2026-09-17 - Environmental Advisory Board

00:35Yeah, they usually

00:36>> Yes.

00:36>> Oh my god.

00:37>> Yeah.

00:40>> Don't want on that committee.

03:54>> Mhm.

08:59>> The regular Town of Apex Environmental

09:02Advisory Board

09:04for Thursday, September 17th,

09:062026 is now called to order at 6:00 p.m.

09:11Uh, please join me in the Pledge of

09:13Allegiance.

09:18I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

09:20United States of America,

09:22and to the republic for which it stands,

09:25one nation under God, indivisible, with

09:28liberty and justice for all.

09:31Thank you very much.

09:34All right. Um,

09:36first thing, uh, approval of minutes.

09:40Um,

09:41the August 20th regular minutes are

09:44postponed,

09:45uh, until October. Um, so, tonight's

09:47approval is for the three subcommittee

09:49minutes,

09:50um, the tree canopy subcommittee from

09:53August 24th,

09:54the data center subcommittee, uh, from

09:57September 2nd,

09:58and the data center subcommittee from

10:00September 8th.

10:03Um, so, uh,

10:06let's see, um,

10:12um, do I have a motion to approve, uh,

10:17all three subset of minutes?

10:19>> I have amendments to the tree canopy

10:22subcommittee minutes.

10:25Um, revisions.

10:27So, on line 30,

10:31um, after we discussed the heat zones of

10:33the nature park, I discussed that there

10:35were

10:36lower heat turf options, then I would

10:37send that to Bruce.

10:40Um,

10:41on line 26,

10:44uh, when we were talking about tree

10:47canopy, um,

10:50island spacing, it wasn't about parking

10:53lot spacing, it was about parking lot

10:54island width to support tree growth.

10:58On line eight,

11:01um,

11:03when we were talking about

11:06looking at preserving existing trees, I

11:07was talking about mapping existing tree

11:09canopy in particular, priority tree

11:12canopy for the purpose of understanding

11:13tree preservation from an ecosystem

11:15perspective.

11:17On line 20,

11:20when we were talking about Depot 4 499,

11:22it was the loss of raptor habitat that

11:25was sad to see.

11:27Um,

11:29on line 22,

11:31I said, uh

11:33that

11:35um it would be good to map tree canopy

11:37areas

11:39as an example of the benefits of the

11:41mapping to help people understand where

11:45tree canopy

11:46actually was on that site. And I've sent

11:48these revisions to Amanda, by the way.

11:50Um

11:53Line seven should be struck. I did not

11:55say that. Line 20 should be struck.

11:58Line 28

12:01uh the value on those goals was to help

12:03drive EAB priorities and

12:05recommendations.

12:08Line seven

12:10on page six was about um

12:15urban infill and economic development,

12:18not just simply not growing residential

12:20areas. Line 12 should be credited to

12:23Suzanne, not to me. And that is it.

12:26Apologize, that was a lot, but

12:32So, do we actually have a motion? Was

12:34that seconded? Or I was wondering if

12:36maybe we should pull these out so we

12:39could I I know I would like to review

12:41the um

12:42>> the edits

12:43>> the edits.

12:44>> Yep.

12:45>> We can do that.

12:46>> I'll second what Suzanne said.

12:49>> Okay. Uh do I have a motion to

12:52uh withdraw these from voting?

12:55Um specifically the trees canopy

12:57subcommittee.

13:00>> I move to withdraw this tree canopy

13:02subcommittee.

13:02>> All right.

13:04>> I'll second

13:05>> Second. All in favor?

13:07I.

13:07>> I.

13:08Uh the vote is unanimous.

13:10Um do I have a motion to approve the two

13:14data center subcommittees as they are?

13:18>> I move.

13:19>> Second. Second. All in

13:22>> Suzanne and Cecilia

13:22>> Yeah.

13:24All in favor?

13:26I. All All right.

13:29Motion carries.

13:31Um next we're moving on to the public

13:33comments period.

13:36Um and then we don't have anyone. Is

13:37that correct?

13:38>> That's correct.

13:39>> All right.

13:40All right. Um next

13:43moving on to council member comments.

13:46Uh

13:47uh mayor pro temp

13:49>> All right. Moving right along tonight,

13:50huh guys?

13:51Um okay. So uh good evening. Um

13:56welcome again. It's good to see you all.

13:58And I have a couple notes that I want to

14:00make about the past month. Uh the first

14:02was to thank um the organizers of and

14:04and everyone who showed up to the

14:06Triangle uh Symposium um you know, thing

14:09that I moderated in in August. I think

14:11they're actually their final event is

14:12tonight, which I think we're missing by

14:14being here. I think they're uh they're

14:16showing a movie. Um but it was uh a good

14:18time and I'm you know, thanks to staff

14:21and and everyone that uh Triangle helped

14:23organize it. It's pretty great. Um

14:26I want to put a plug in uh you know,

14:27with Shannon for the Peak 2055 plan to

14:29make sure that's in everyone's mind

14:31here. It's really starting to take

14:32shape. And this is the group uh where

14:35we're working on the next revision of

14:37the land use map, which affects a lot of

14:40stuff we discuss here, development types

14:42and densities and everything. And uh the

14:44last meeting we had a couple weeks ago,

14:47we um you know, gave comments in kind of

14:49a draft plan. And I think that'll be

14:50coming uh forward pretty soon for more

14:53more public comment as it moves through

14:54that process.

14:55So I'd make a note and if you can make a

14:57meeting coming up, um take a look at it.

14:59It's pretty important stuff. It'll it'll

15:01be sort of the driving document for the

15:03next uh decade in Apex.

15:06Uh in terms of rezonings, I don't really

15:08think we had any that were related to

15:10the EAB in August. A lot of annexations,

15:12so not much to report there. There's one

15:14coming up uh next to Hedden Hall that's

15:16getting a lot of attention, called the

15:17North Salem PUD that you may have heard

15:19of. Um

15:21I think it went to planning board and

15:22got approved this past Monday. I'll come

15:26to council I believe in our next meeting

15:29and that's probably the

15:32the the biggest environmental regulation

15:34we be we're hearing or about that one.

15:37So I'll keep an eye out for that. I want

15:39to call out that the council committees

15:41are finally starting to meet and the

15:44first real council committee in a while

15:46is meeting tomorrow

15:49and it's the responsible development

15:50committee

15:52and I'm excited. We got the agenda set

15:54out and there's a lot of stuff on here

15:56that might interest you.

15:58The biggest item is we're going to be

16:00going over in the committee some of the

16:02potential UDO changes anticipated UDO

16:05changes related to state law changes.

16:07And looking at the list like it's all

16:09bad news

16:11stuff around you know developer friendly

16:14vesting of rights and additional land

16:16uses and removing street parking

16:19removing

16:20you know but it just a laundry list of

16:23various things

16:25looks like storm water controls are

16:26getting kind of nerfed too

16:28ADU changes that they don't really bug

16:30me that's fine. But still there's a

16:31bunch of stuff that we'll go over and

16:32how that impacts we'll get a preview in

16:34the in the council committee. Tomorrow

16:36I'll probably write up something about

16:38it if you want to read that and it'll be

16:39coming to a planning board and a town

16:42council meeting near you pretty soon.

16:45And the other thing I want to talk about

16:46is council is

16:48we're trying our hardest to push forward

16:50our appointments. I think we're going to

16:51make the set of them at the next meeting

16:53finally and try to get on a process

16:55where we make these more regular. And um

16:59you know kind of like clockwork where

17:01they're just coming every couple months

17:02and we make them

17:03sort of as a getting a a better routine

17:05that's sort of the goal here. And we

17:07have some UDO amendments related to that

17:08which aren't tremendously popular. Don't

17:10worry about it and

17:12we'll

17:13you know get that stuff done and start

17:15making the appointments. So, know we

17:17have some vacancies here as well. So.

17:20Um that's about all that's going on. So,

17:22um happy to take any questions and or

17:24anything else that you want me to do for

17:25you guys.

17:28>> Is that responsible development

17:29committee meeting, is that going to be

17:30live streamed?

17:31>> No, we typically don't stream committee

17:34meetings just because it takes more

17:37staff overhead than the IT has to come

17:39in and everything. So, um it will be I

17:42think it's on the third floor, right?

17:45Yes, so it'll be upstairs, but we're not

17:47going to get live stream it. Uh but it

17:49is open to public, so you're welcome to

17:51come tomorrow morning at at 8:30 and I

17:53I'm told that we have to be out by 10:00

17:55because there's another meeting at

17:5610:00. So.

17:57>> [snorts]

17:57>> Well,

17:59on a tight tight schedule there.

18:07>> Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.

18:08>> All right.

18:09>> Thanks, guys.

18:10Moving on to staff announcements. Um

18:15Tonight we have Assistant Planning

18:16Director Amanda filling in for Nora and

18:18Bruce um who are out of town. So,

18:20welcome Amanda. The floor is yours.

18:24Nothing?

18:25>> All right.

18:26Move on. Speeding through this. Uh

18:28moving on to new business.

18:30Um we have

18:33let's see.

18:36So, under the new business we have a

18:37presentation on storm water outreach. Um

18:40I'd like to welcome Rachel Gamble, storm

18:42water specialist two.

18:44Uh Rachel, welcome.

18:53>> My

18:54presentation is not

18:56She's not the next

18:58You may just have that. It's just the

18:59intro.

19:03Oh, I got you. Okay.

19:04>> [laughter]

19:07>> Uh I see.

19:09Come on. Yeah.

19:12Here you go.

19:12>> Thank you.

19:14Hi everyone. I've met a few of you I

19:16think at different events over the the

19:17last few years I've worked for the town.

19:20Um I'm here to talk about public

19:23involvement and participation in regards

19:25to stormwater.

19:26And the importance of that and making

19:30people understand what stormwater is and

19:33having just the public be more involved

19:36in that. Um

19:38So I have a quick presentation.

19:41It's um

19:43just kind of goes over why this is part

19:45of our stormwater program because we

19:46have other volunteer groups in town. We

19:49have yourselves. Um we have

19:52high school students, just different

19:53groups, but why it's important for

19:55stormwater to also encompass volunteer

19:58and public participation.

20:00Um the Clean Water Act of 1972 created

20:03the National Pollutant Discharge

20:05Elimination System and then the NPDES

20:09created the Phase 1 and 2 stormwater

20:12permit program.

20:13So we

20:15that was then delegated to DEQ

20:18and Apex received our first original

20:21Phase 2 permit in 2005.

20:25And that created a stormwater management

20:27program for the town.

20:29That stormwater management program

20:31requires six minimum measures.

20:35One of them is public outreach and

20:36education, which my co-worker Matt takes

20:39care of.

20:40One of them is public involvement and

20:41participation, that's that falls under

20:43me.

20:44Um illicit discharge detection

20:46elimination falls under my co-worker

20:49Anthony.

20:50Um we all work in construction site

20:53stormwater runoff and controls for soil

20:55erosion.

20:56Post-construction stormwater management

20:59falls under Jimmy.

21:00And then pollution prevention and good

21:02housekeeping is my boss James Mashino

21:05and also um myself. I do the facilities

21:09inspections for that.

21:11So, as you can see, it's it's a pretty

21:12small group. We also have engineers in

21:13the group, but it's it's a pretty small

21:15group for a lot of different things that

21:18take up our time, especially with how

21:20big our

21:21S&E program is, uh, with the

21:23construction site stormwater.

21:25So, I'm here to talk about public

21:28involvement and participation and some

21:30of the programs that we have and how

21:32maybe we could get more support and help

21:35with that from

21:37folks like you, um, just knowing that

21:39it's an option and it's something that

21:41we could we could make a better program

21:43with with more support and time. So,

21:47um, I most of my slide is most of my

21:50slides are photos of previous, uh,

21:52volunteers. Some of them are real cute

21:54girl scouts, boy scouts. Um, we have the

21:57storm drain marking program.

21:59That's mostly kids. We really gear that

22:01towards kids and push the the younger

22:03groups towards that. Um, they learn

22:06about only rain down the drain. Kind of

22:09ties in with the illicit discharge and

22:12education and it gives them a way to

22:14participate in their local environment

22:17within their developments themselves.

22:19Um, we also do big sweep stream

22:22cleanups, which we

22:25are really as a

22:27as people contact us and say, "Hey, we

22:29would like to do a stream cleanup." Um,

22:32or like this past year we we really I

22:34pushed to be, um,

22:37participants in the CUEP

22:39annual Creek Week events and that was

22:41our first year that we really had a lot

22:43of participation in that as the town.

22:46Um, we do we've started doing invasive

22:48species removals with Nora's high school

22:50group so that we can do a little bit of

22:52education and,

22:54um,

22:55more about the stormwater program.

22:58So, I'm looking for a other ideas of

23:02ways that the public can get hands-on

23:05with stormwater and these types of

23:08programs.

23:09Um

23:11and right one of the things that I've

23:13worked on in the last couple of years is

23:16pushing for more partnerships because

23:19I myself only have so much time in the

23:21day and my day-to-day job is mostly soil

23:25and erosion. That I mean everybody's

23:26[snorts] driven through town and we know

23:28how much development there is.

23:30Um we have I think about 1,600 acres

23:34that fall under us.

23:36I have 605 acres that I inspect every

23:39month.

23:4030 over 30 different construction sites

23:44and I also do our public involvement and

23:46participation. We just I would like to

23:49do more. The hardest part for me is

23:51finding locations. The envi- the the

23:54volunteers are very enthusiastic. They

23:56really follow through and do the parts

23:58that they need filling out the

24:00paperwork, showing up. We provide all of

24:02the materials. We schedule it. We will

24:05work with landowners um for access. We

24:08have a waiver. We work with Wake County

24:11Big Sweep for that and they do and um

24:15Alex Heineman does a really great job in

24:17supporting our program with that. She

24:19will help us do

24:21you know, the contacting different

24:23landowners and um it's she's been a

24:26really great asset for that.

24:29And we also started

24:31working with um Nora

24:34and also the volunteer coordinator staff

24:37through the parks program. Really just

24:39using those town resources to create a

24:42network to really ramp up this program.

24:45But at the end of the day, the hardest

24:47part is finding locations, especially

24:51the stream cleanup locations, to be

24:53[clears throat] able to go out and do

24:54it. Which is a great problem to have. I

24:56like that I don't find a lot of trash,

24:59but it takes a lot of my time to find

25:01those locations when I do have an event

25:04that I need to hold.

25:06Um and so, you know, we're trying I'm

25:08trying to find different avenues for

25:11people to contact me. Um I don't live in

25:15Apex. I work here. I love working here.

25:17I It's a great town. I love that I don't

25:19find much trash. Our parks program, our

25:22easement staff with the public works,

25:24they all do a great job. But, it means

25:26the land that I come in contact with

25:28day-to-day, I just don't find a lot of

25:31trash. And if I find it on a

25:33construction site, I make the developers

25:34clean it up. So, it's that's why I'm

25:37here tonight is to just kind of um

25:40you know, get the idea out there, give

25:42you my contact information, and just

25:45make people aware that this program

25:47exists. And if you have any ideas, my um

25:51in ways to contact me

25:53um is here. If you My name is spelled

25:58differently. So, if for some reason you

26:00don't have it, um I'm also listed on our

26:02volunteer website. So, you can get to my

26:04email address that way as well.

26:06Um yeah, and that's why I'm here. So.

26:11>> Thank you, Rachel. Uh any questions from

26:14the board members?

26:15>> Yeah, I do. Um

26:17do you guys ever look at replantings of

26:20stream buffers or wetlands or planting

26:22pollinator species in SCMs maybe on

26:25uh city-owned properties?

26:27>> Yeah, so we've actually done some of

26:29that since I've been here. I've been

26:30here almost 5 years, um and we actually

26:33replanted

26:35um the town hall SCM at one point. Um we

26:38also did a stream restoration. Ooh, I

26:42don't remember which neighborhood that

26:44was, but we went in and did supplemental

26:45plantings ourselves.

26:47Um you know, the weather is very

26:50weather-dependent where they whether

26:51they live or not and so we went in and

26:55supplemental plantings rather than have

26:56the contractor come back to do it. So

26:59that is something we would do. Yes.

27:01We I will say we have to be a little

27:03careful when it comes to not town owned

27:06just because everybody's HOA is supposed

27:08to be

27:09they have an HOA and O&M agreement.

27:11They're supposed to have maintenance and

27:13contracts in place for that kind of

27:15thing. We would advise

27:17if an HOA wanted to do something like

27:20that, we could come as staff

27:23you know the

27:24professional

27:26advisory in that sense.

27:28But yes, when it comes to town owned

27:32we will do some of that. Um

27:35we did it as staff and we also have a

27:38maintenance contract and contractor that

27:40is supposed to be doing a lot of that

27:41and and maintenance wise.

27:44But if like with town hall when it

27:46needed just a a refresh of those plants,

27:49we

27:50ordered them and went and did that.

27:52>> Well, thinking like along Beaver Creek

27:54along the Greenway of course you know

27:56there's a lot of bamboo but you know as

27:58invasives get removed um Yeah,

28:01eventually there's the

28:02>> That would be a that's actually a great

28:03idea especially as Nora's group goes

28:05into an area and removes if we had a way

28:07to

28:08go in there and replace before they

28:09could just fill back in. Yeah, that that

28:12could be something that I will

28:14definitely be bringing up in our next

28:16staff meeting and so

28:17you know volun- because then it's kind

28:20of piggybacks on programs that are

28:22already there.

28:23I can't make any promises for our

28:24department but those are things that we

28:27can discuss for sure and I have no

28:29reason to think that it wouldn't be.

28:32But I don't

28:33>> And in terms of partners um

28:36have you reached out to anything like

28:37Partners for Environmental Justice for

28:39potential nonprofits that they work with

28:41that might also work with Apex or

28:45>> I think that's probably above my pay

28:46grade for something like that. Like I

28:48have no problem reaching out to people,

28:50but I also try very hard to not speak

28:53for the town and stormwater because I'm

28:56not the one that like we have, you know,

28:59that would have to go up through our

29:00director. I don't see why I couldn't ask

29:03if there were um organizations.

29:05>> But I thought you were looking for

29:06partnerships.

29:08>> I think more volunteer partnerships. So

29:11like high schools, um we are a we are a

29:14member of the Quip, which is the Clean

29:16Water Education Program. So we pay dues

29:18and they do some of our education

29:20programming through high schools and and

29:22things like that.

29:24Um Nora's group, Swanic, is a great

29:27partner for her.

29:28Um things like that. Not not don't

29:30necessarily um

29:32membership organizations, but just more

29:35support for the program. So volunteers

29:38that want to reach out and

29:41do some of that.

29:43Yeah.

29:45Absolutely.

29:46>> But it sounds like you have

29:48a pretty good problem, no trash, right?

29:50>> Yeah, it's a great problem. It is a

29:51fantastic problem. I don't It's not a

29:54complaint, but it does mean that so we

29:57um I don't know. Are you familiar with

29:59the Dia de

30:00um organization through the UNC Dental

30:02School?

30:03They contact us every year to do um a

30:06stream clean up. It's their day of

30:07service. And so they one of the events

30:09that they hold is always in Apex. And

30:11every year around now I go, "Oh no, I

30:13got to go find trash." And I spend

30:16a while just walking greenways and sewer

30:19easements and looking at maps at streams

30:22and going, "All right, we'll go look at

30:23that one and see what I can find." Um

30:27some of them are easier than others.

30:28Some of them we can go back to every

30:30couple years because they're in a more

30:32urban setting. Um

30:34but yeah, that just it's it takes a lot

30:36of time

30:38to find one location. And if I could

30:40find if I had a way to identify more, I

30:43could advertise and say, "Hey, we would

30:45like to hold this event in October."

30:47Kind of like we did with the Creek Week

30:49events. And then draw in different

30:52volunteers, not necessarily that they

30:54came to us, but that we were able to

30:56say, "Hey, we're doing this." And it

30:57gets sent out on um the parks listserv

31:00for volunteers. It gets sent out to town

31:02staff for volunteers. It, you know,

31:04anywhere, anybody that wants to sign up.

31:06We could put it on the website as an

31:08event.

31:09Um

31:10but right now we just don't have the the

31:12time to

31:15spend looking for more sites to be able

31:17to say, "Hey, we would love to do this."

31:19Um it's a great problem to have. I don't

31:22disagree.

31:24>> Could you

31:25>> Oh, I'm sorry.

31:25>> Nope, after you.

31:26>> I'm wondering if you could sort of

31:27leverage the town staff who who are

31:31driving around a lot, like the

31:32>> Yeah.

31:33>> Yeah.

31:34>> The guys that are cleaning up the

31:36>> Yeah, and I've contacted a lot of

31:38different groups. Um or I contacted I

31:41think you all.

31:42>> She she she she she she

31:43>> Yeah, and so I started looking into some

31:45of the ones that you guys had sent us.

31:47Um

31:48some of them I think I'm going to have

31:50to go back in the winter when it's when

31:51some of the brushes died back so that I

31:53can really get a better idea of what's

31:55going on. Right now it's just a wall of

31:57Japanese knotweed. Um

32:01in a lot of places, but um yeah, and I

32:04very much appreciate whoever sent that

32:06in. Um I have a running list um places

32:10to check out. Um

32:13yeah, so I've we've contacted public

32:16works, um the

32:18uh oh gosh, community engagement.

32:21Um

32:23I think Nora also contacted the parks

32:25planners just to to get a, you know,

32:28eyes more eyes we have out there just

32:30who to send that information to is is

32:33what my goal is right now is to make

32:35myself

32:36visible for that. And I think we've

32:39talked about this at previous events um

32:41that this is a a hurdle is the staff

32:44time and and things like that. So,

32:47yeah.

32:48>> Is there a way to add it to the town

32:50website? Like you can report uh

32:52something out. We have that option. Why

32:55can't residents report, "Hey, there's

32:56trash here, trash there?"

32:58>> So, we do have to I

33:01I thought we actually talked about that

33:02at a recent meeting and part of that is

33:04that

33:05um

33:07we might get

33:08a lot of you know, I saw a cup, I saw a

33:11bottle, I saw a couple of things.

33:14Um I have no issue with it being litter

33:16sweeps in along roadsides instead of um

33:20stream corridors uh and things like

33:22that, but

33:24it's

33:26a lot of it is also um public versus uh

33:31private property.

33:32And so, yes, if there was an issue There

33:35is a way to report um I think it's in

33:37our report a concern link for like

33:39excessive trash and things like that,

33:41but it's not specifically environmental.

33:43To get to that, I think it's really to

33:45get to this website for stormwater

33:47involvement and

33:49um me.

33:51So.

33:53>> Is there an outreach quota that you have

33:55to meet? Um

33:56>> Yeah, so

33:57>> it seems like you're busy, but you want

34:00more.

34:00>> all of our programs have minimums of

34:04what we need to do. So, the six MCMs

34:06have minimums.

34:07Um for S&E, for example, the minimum is

34:09a

34:10one report per construction site with a

34:13with a permit per month. That's the

34:16minimum we try to meet.

34:18Um for involvement,

34:20one a year is the minimum.

34:24But nobody's aiming for the minimum.

34:26We try to do better than that is but

34:30time wise, this is the hurdle

34:32Is the locations. So, uh we still do a

34:36lot of the we do Peak Fest, we have a

34:38booth at Earth Fest. We we do what we

34:42can with what the time and staff we

34:44have.

34:45Um but the minimum is not a great

34:48goal.

34:49So, same thing with education events. Um

34:52we're really trying to ramp that program

34:54up. I don't know if you've seen our our

34:55recent stormwater videos. Um but we also

34:58had education events during the Creek

35:01Week. Um

35:02and also just we went to a middle school

35:05this year and did like a career day and

35:07told them about stormwater and

35:09um so we yeah, our quota is pretty

35:13pretty low for the minimum. And I we

35:16would like to do more than that.

35:18>> I have a location for you uh

35:20right on Lufkin Road, right by your

35:22Lufkin Road Middle School.

35:24>> Yes.

35:24>> a creek there I and I actually have a a

35:27cellular trail camera up there. Um so I

35:30know

35:30>> Yeah, I know that the US-1 side of that

35:34the a lot of the trash blows out of like

35:36trash trucks and stuff as they drive by.

35:38>> Uh yeah.

35:39>> That's been a problem for years.

35:40>> Yes. Yeah. Um

35:43that's one of those locations that's on

35:44the list of finding property owners is

35:48can be in things like that. So,

35:51>> I'll reach out to you about that.

35:53>> Yeah, absolutely. Um we I'm through

35:55there a lot. I do our Apex Commerce

35:58uh inspections for the sites out there

36:00and I have Horton Park. So, I'm out that

36:02way pretty often and so I see the trash

36:04out there, but it's just a matter of

36:07the RT probably has no problem, but then

36:10who owns these woods? And is it all the

36:13same person? And so,

36:15yeah, that's that can be a little bit of

36:18a hurdle. And so, our working with Wake

36:20County Big Sweep has really helped that

36:23hurdle because she's very good at that.

36:27>> Is it a matter of getting access or is

36:29it

36:29>> Yeah, yep. So, they basically sign a

36:31right of entry um for but Wake County

36:34has

36:35she does a lot of that for different

36:37municipalities.

36:38Um and so, she's just got the it's the

36:41spiel down and what to say and how to

36:44not scare people.

36:46Our volunteers sign a waiver. I mean,

36:48it's not but people are

36:51about their lo- you know, their private

36:52property, so

36:54um yeah.

36:56>> That's Rachel, I know a couple of uh

36:58non-profit organizations. They come in a

37:00group, 15, 20 people. Um they remove

37:05trash, you know, I've seen them in

37:08engaged in a Morrisville and Cary area.

37:11Is that a Can they contact you if you

37:14need a help?

37:15>> Yes.

37:15>> Okay, I can I can I can

37:17>> They can reach out to me. Um like I

37:19said, if my I'm on the website for the

37:22volunteer opportunities. My email is at

37:23the bottom of that page, so

37:25um you are more than welcome to send

37:28volunteer groups and locations and and

37:32just other ideas, too, as you come upon

37:33them. If you think about this later and

37:35are just like the replanting.

37:38Um those are things that, you know, all

37:40fall under stormwater and could involve

37:42volunteers and education and outreach,

37:44so.

37:46>> Can I ask you about grass and uh grass

37:48clippings? I saw a picture earlier in

37:50presentation with like some kids

37:51cleaning up a storm drain.

37:53>> Yeah, so they were marking the storm

37:55storm drain, but yeah, same idea.

37:56>> Okay.

37:57>> One of the things we tell them is not to

37:58put grass in the storm drains.

38:00>> Yeah, so you know, Apex is considering

38:03removing grass collection or and or

38:05moving to containers. And I was

38:07wondering um for yard waste. And I was

38:10wondering if you could kind of talk

38:12about how that relates to our um

38:15uh phase two stormwater permit. And

38:18there's rules there that we're not quite

38:19follow like what's the story there and

38:20why that's important for storm water.

38:22>> is technically an illicit discharge. So,

38:24it shouldn't be going in our storm

38:26drains. That's why there's rules of

38:27where you should put it when you do put

38:29it on the curb while you're still

38:30allowed to put it on the curb.

38:32Um we encourage people to

38:35A, leave it long and mow it so it

38:37mulches in because then you have less

38:39fertilizer.

38:41Um

38:42we don't want it washing in our storm

38:44drains and from an HOA standpoint, it's

38:47a very expensive thing that happens in

38:49the spring to all of the HOAs.

38:51Everybody goes out and mows their lawn

38:53and fertilizes and then those first big

38:55rains wash it all down the drains and

38:57into your storm water ponds and that's a

39:00lot of our spring algal blooms.

39:02Um and so if you keep that out, you

39:05don't have to pay to replace those

39:07plants that the algae

39:09kills. You don't have to pay to have the

39:10algae removed.

39:12Um so, there's financial aspect of grass

39:16not being on the curb but also just from

39:19an environmental standpoint, grass is

39:21great at breaking down into nutrients

39:23that cause

39:25algal blooms in our waters.

39:28So, is that what you were asking?

39:29>> Yeah, I was trying to get out like

39:30there's actually a requirement, right,

39:32that we 48 hours or something?

39:35>> Yeah, so you're not supposed to put it

39:37out within a certain time frame. Um

39:39you're supposed to be a certain distance

39:41away from the the storm drains, not

39:44uphill, things like that. Um

39:47the the grass is the most mobile cuz

39:51it's small so it really washes right

39:53into those storm drains. Um yeah, and I

39:55don't I don't know the requirements off

39:57the top of my head.

39:59Um but it is a problem and it is an

40:01expensive problem. Not just an

40:04environmental issue.

40:06Um which is one of the ways that I

40:08educate people about it because

40:09sometimes people don't really care

40:12until you tell them how much it will

40:14cost them to fix that problem.

40:16And it's I think that's the same reason

40:18why we can't have it in our normal yard

40:20waste, correct? It's because it's

40:22expensive to dispose of because it's

40:24such a hot

40:26amount of nutrients.

40:27>> Yeah, that's what I'm told is that

40:28there's a different disposal requirement

40:30and

40:31>> Yeah.

40:31>> a dump that takes regular yard waste

40:33might not necessarily be able to take

40:34grass because they have to do different

40:36things and compost it and shift it and

40:38everything.

40:38>> One of the the best fertilizers for

40:41grass is grass cuz it breaks down to

40:43what grass needs.

40:47>> So, not a way to put some sort of like

40:49very tight screening over the storm

40:51drains to keep that out?

40:53>> It would probably cause flooding.

40:55>> Okay.

40:56>> And that is a

40:56>> It will cause flooding.

40:57>> Yes. Yes. I didn't I don't want to talk

41:00in definitives, but it will cause

41:02flooding because it'll catch everything.

41:04>> Yeah.

41:04>> And it doesn't take much for that to

41:07plug.

41:08It's what you see in some of our um

41:11construction sites when it looks like

41:13the road is flooding on a construction

41:14site. It's because there's

41:16um inlet protection.

41:18And so that catches the sediment, which

41:20is great. But then once there's

41:22sediment, I mean it doesn't take You

41:24know what our soils are like. They're so

41:25fine that they plug

41:27and they can't infiltrate through those.

41:30And it doesn't take much for them to get

41:31plugged. And so it wouldn't take much

41:33for

41:34>> I'm just curious what

41:34>> Yeah.

41:35>> I live on a hill and I have neighbors up

41:36the street who are really good about

41:38putting it out, but if we have a big

41:40rain, yep, goes right into the storm

41:42drain.

41:42>> Yeah. So, it's timing why It's timing.

41:46It's location.

41:48Um

41:49I know it's a very hot topic, but I

41:51think stormwater probably very much

41:53supports the the idea of change in that

41:56aspect. Um

41:59And I think public works does as well in

42:01a lot of ways. So, but I'm not I don't

42:04speak for

42:05them.

42:06Um

42:07Yeah.

42:08>> Do you all

42:09um ever do any education or outreach

42:12like about

42:13who's living in the stream?

42:15Like what the biology of the stream is.

42:18>> No.

42:20Um

42:23I mean I we not past the point of

42:26healthy water and clean water supports

42:28the entire environment not you know, so

42:31in a healthy ecosystem supports all of

42:33us.

42:34Um but we don't usually get that far

42:37into it because the

42:39the permit itself and the requirements

42:42um

42:43of just stormwater management is usually

42:45the education that we that we talk

42:47about. Um and usually once we start

42:50talking about that then we get a lot of

42:51questions about individual you know,

42:54locations and properties and owners and

42:56and we're happy to educate but it

42:58doesn't usually get into the specifics

43:01of the aquatic and benthic environment.

43:05>> And does the town

43:06do any of its own um monitoring like

43:10>> Okay. Not to my knowledge. Um

43:13I don't know if that's part of the phase

43:15one. So the difference between a phase

43:17one and phase two is the size of your

43:19municipality.

43:20Um and it's usually a few years behind

43:24but because you get a ramp up to that

43:26point but um

43:28I don't know if that's part of the

43:30sampling for phase one or not.

43:32Um I know that um NC State does a lot of

43:36that. Um

43:37>> Yeah, town of Chapel Hill does it.

43:39>> Yeah, and

43:41it's I I don't I don't think we do.

43:44>> Okay.

43:44>> Um I know that we don't in my group.

43:47Yes, so I don't know if the um

43:49like the

43:50effluent from the wastewater treatment

43:53plant or anything like that. I don't

43:54know.

43:55So.

43:58>> Then lastly Rachel, I think you were

44:01wondering there's a patch like wooded

44:03area right off Lufkin Road. Mhm. that's

44:05owned by Wake County Public Schools.

44:07>> Okay.

44:08>> Um so, I can also get

44:10>> Yeah, definitely. That's an easier

44:12contact. Yeah. Okay.

44:13>> So, I I I can get um

44:16>> Okay.

44:16>> middle schoolers to help with that.

44:18>> Perfect. That would be good. Yeah, it is

44:19one I drive by and see and it's just

44:21like

44:22>> Yeah, it's bad.

44:23>> Yeah. And then every once in a while

44:24it's cleaned up and then it's back.

44:28So.

44:30Any other questions?

44:33All right. Thank you. You know how to

44:35get a hold of me.

44:37Thank you.

44:40>> All right. Next on the agenda is old

44:43business.

44:44Seems like we don't have any old

44:45business listed on it for tonight.

44:50So, moving on.

44:53Um under announcements and petitions,

44:55item 8A

44:58is voting members into subcommittees. We

45:00have several members interested in

45:02filling vacant subcommittee spots.

45:06Um I'd like to open the floor to hear

45:07interest and nominations for our

45:09subcommittees.

45:11>> I'm interested in the tree canopy

45:13subcommittee.

45:15>> I I was interested in data centers.

45:18>> Right.

45:19>> Data centers as well.

45:22>> Um so, we should let's see um

45:30All right. So, let's do this one by one.

45:32Uh do I have a motion um to appoint

45:36Courtney

45:37to the tree city subcommittee?

45:44>> Second.

45:44>> Yeah. Favor?

45:46>> I got it.

45:47>> All right.

45:48Uh [clears throat] that's all. I'm

45:50sorry.

45:51>> [laughter]

45:51>> Sorry.

45:52>> Um

45:56Do I have a You both said you wanted the

45:59data center. Yeah?

46:01>> Do I have a motion to appoint Ramesh and

46:04sorry, and Kimberly to the data center

46:06subcommittee?

46:07>> I'll make a motion.

46:08>> Motion.

46:09>> Second.

46:10>> All in favor?

46:11>> Aye.

46:11>> Aye.

46:12Motion carries.

46:15Um

46:17Are there any other vacancies?

46:21Are any Anyone else that's interested?

46:23That is all.

46:24>> Okay.

46:25>> All right.

46:26Uh announcements by the board?

46:29>> I have a question.

46:30>> Yeah.

46:30>> Um with the data center subcommittee,

46:33you know, we're meeting monthly during

46:35the moratorium. Um

46:38John and Suzanne both roll off in

46:39January. Is that correct?

46:41Um Bill had to step away. Mark has moved

46:45away. Um and I appreciate you two coming

46:47to the board. But I'm the sole person

46:50that's been on since the beginning. And

46:52I was just curious, is that a concern or

46:55is that okay? Or

46:58I mean

46:59>> I I think that's fine. That's the nature

47:01of committees. You have, you know,

47:03you're going to have a changeover in the

47:05composition. [clears throat]

47:05>> Yeah.

47:05>> And it's that's going to happen on your

47:07subcommittees.

47:08>> Okay.

47:08>> Um it's ideal to have continuity, of

47:11course. But um that's why we have

47:13minutes of all the subcommittees

47:14meetings and and now videos of more

47:16recent ones and going forward. So that

47:19new members can get up to speed.

47:20>> Okay.

47:21All right. Thank you.

47:26>> Any other announcements?

47:29Uh

47:30quickly wanted to uh say something. Um I

47:32wanted to somewhat echo what uh Terry

47:35said. Um I I wanted to I think it

47:38already started. No, it's going to start

47:40soon. Um the um I wanted to wish our

47:43friends um Trees, Water, Triangle luck

47:45on their their final installment of the

47:48um Triangle Environmental Symposium. Um

47:52I know I personally attended the first

47:54three. Um and I also saw um week over

47:58week uh it seemed like attendance

48:00improved

48:01with great talks by the way.

48:03I was very impressed with a lot of the

48:05stuff that was said in those in those

48:07three different weeks that I attended.

48:10And I guess I just wanted to say that I

48:12feel a sense of pride that this year was

48:14hosted in Apex in the in the Holly

48:16Center. Um, and

48:19just hope that next year we can host it

48:21again

48:22because it was it was it was eye-opening

48:25for me. We had people from

48:28places all over the world honestly

48:31speaking about

48:33their regions, where they're from, their

48:35culture,

48:36but also

48:39international. So, just wanted to say

48:41that. Good luck to them.

48:44Um, all right. If there no further

48:47announcements, is there a motion to

48:50adjourn?

48:55>> [laughter]

48:55>> Second over here. All right, all in

48:58favor?

48:59I. All right, the meeting is adjourned

49:02at 6:40 p.m.

50:08>> Oh.