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Home My WebLink About02-13-2026 Fairhope Environmental Advisory Board Meeting Minutes MEETING MINUTES ~ STANDARD MONTHLY MEETING FEBRUARY 13, 2026 / 3-4 PM, FAIRHOPE PUBLIC LIBRARY ~ UPSTAIRS BOARD ROOM ATTENDEES COF Officials: Nicole Love, Michelle Melton, Hunter Simmons, Christina LeJeune FEAB Board Members: Ben Frater, Nigel Temple, Anna Keane, Jim Horner, Carl Couret, Steven Scyphers, Amy Paulson FEAB Members Absent: 2 (Sarah, Jennifer) Oﬃcial Quorum Count: 7/9 FEAB Active Participants: Gary Gover, Nancy Harrison, Gustavo Douaihi, Lance Slater Honored Guests Michael Herzog, The Grand; Randy Harrison, resident; Kelsey Furman, resident; Cathy Barnette, Daphne EAB; Rachael Ball, Baykeeper Minutes Author: Nicole Love Commencement: Amy called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. SUMMARY OF SALIENT DECISIONS, DISCUSSION, AND ACTIONS ● The FEAB Greenspace Working Group and University of Southern Alabama will continue to assist the COF Planning Department in the development of a public-facing, GIS-based interactive tool that identiﬁes, locates, and describes all park spaces available in the City. ● The FEAB Greenspace Working Group and University of Southern Alabama will continue to pursue its founding mission in response to the COF Land Use Plan goals to establish additional natural space in and around the City. The WG project includes identifying where City-owned land can be used for natural space, identifying gaps in the types of land that are owned by the City, and identifying opportunities to preserve/conserve or restore additional natural spaces. ● Daphne EAB is pursuing Bee City USA designation and an Arboretum Program. FEAB is assessing applicability to COF. DETAILED MINUTES 1. Housekeeping a. RESOLUTION: January meeting minutes approved. 2. Discussion with Cathy Barnette, Daphne EAB a. Bee City USA i. $300/year ii. Daphne implemented three criteria, including: signs, native plant trail (Lake Forest, with +66 pollinator species) iii. Scouts are very helpful with outreach and other construction/planting requirements iv. ACTION: Nancy will research the opportunity for COF and report back in March (i.e., what the criteria require, what are we already doing, and what gaps would need to be reconciled). b. Arboretum Program - Daphne pursuing certiﬁcation (no fee required) 3. Greenspace Assessment WG / COF Planning Dept – Hunter Simmons & Ben/Steven a. Hunter Simmons presented the Planning Department’s Parks & Greenspace initiative: i. Univ of South AL created a GIS map of all recreational parks in the City. ii. Hunter’s goal is to have a public-facing, interactive tool that lives on City’s website. iii. Includes park features and pictures including any natural landscape features. b. Planning Department’s ask for FEAB: currently the mapped parks are missing (or have incorrect) key environmental attributes. Would like some help from the FEAB with that function. a. Also, in parks that have signiﬁcant or useful LID features, can the FEAB help highlight them (ie; Volanta Park). b. ACTION: Stephen/Ben are happy to help with the Planning Department’s request. c. NOTE: FEAB’s greenspace/naturespace inventory is complimentary to COF Planning Dept tool, but FEAB initiative has broader application and its mission was developed in response to Land Use Plan goal of establishing additional natural space in and around the City. The FEAB project includes identifying where City-owned land can be used for natural space, identifying gaps in the types of land that are owned by the City, and identifying opportunities to preserve/conserve or restore additional natural spaces. 2. Next Steps: a. Immediate – FEAB will help deﬁne attributes and clean up some of the environmental layers in their online tool for use by the COF Planning Department. b. Long range – FEAB will continue to work on greenspace/nature space initiative. 4. New Items a. FEAB letter of support for COF ALDOT Hwy 98 bridge grant proposal – Amy sent to Nicole 2/20/26 b. River Oaks – Carl and Nancy contacted subdivision representative to discuss detention pond condition (shallow and overcome with duckweed and water fern). 5. Wrap up a. March Agenda: standard - no guests b. Future Agenda Items i. Auburn University Extension, Homeowner LID and Habitat Workshop – Amy ii. New Parks and Recreation Chairman, Mike Baugh ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 p.m. NEXT MEETING: March 13, 2026: 3-4, Fairhope Public Library Upstairs Boardroom. FEAB CONTACT INFORMATION: Chairperson: Amy Paulson amy.paulson@yahoo.com (251) 654-7401 Board Members: Sarah Bogdanovich smbogdanovich@gmail.com (727) 421-7321 Carl Couret ccouretjr@yahoo.com (251) 518-6376 Jennifer Foutch Foutch.jennifer@gmail.com (618) 318-0354 Ben Frater ben.frater@gmail.com (404) 314-8815 Jim Horner none (251) 928-9722 Anna Miller anna@keenliving.pro (251) 279-0395 Steven Scyphers sscyphers@southalabama.edu (334) 701-8864 Nigel Temple 757nigel@gmail.com (757) 803-3589 Active Participants Sarah Chandler sarahchandler504@gmail.com (504) 239-6651 Lance Slater lanceslater@gmail.com (251) 599-5259 Jamie Crawford 7jamiecrawford7@gmail.com TBD Cynthia Rush crush300@gmail.com (251) 223-3880 Cassidy Redding credding@southalabamalandtrust.org (971) 724-8130 Jean Normand DrJNormand@aol.com (251) 278-4866 Nancy Harrison twicethroughdunloe@gmail.com (251) 923-9453 Carole Tebay cftebay@gmail.com (850) 466-6592 Gustavo Douaihi gdouaihi@gmail.com Gary Gover govers@bellsouth.net (251) 990-8662 CITY CONTACTS: Nicole Love, COF Grants Coordinator nicole.love@fairhopeal.gov Justin Hammers, COF Urban Forrester justin.hammers@fairhopeal.gov Christina LeJeune, COF Planning and Zoning Department christina.lejeune@fairhopeal.gov MEETING REFERENCES FEAB Vision: to serve as a trusted, scientific resource providing a local environmental perspective to policy decisions to ensure environmental matters are given full consideration in the City’s decision-making processes. We strive to positively affect the quality of life for all residents, their connection to our local ecosystems, and the resilience and sustainment of Fairhope as a small, yet world-class, city. FEAB Role: the FEAB is dedicated to increasing awareness of environmental issues, offering recommendations to City administrators, and providing state-of-the-science consultation in the implementation of sustainable solutions. MEETING READ-AHEADS Land Use Plan - Environmental Issues. See FEAB NOTES and 2024 FEAB LUP SUPPORT LETTER TO CITY. The following list identifies specific sections of the LUP that are relevant to the FEAB’s mission, speak to member professional expertise, or have been identified as Board priorities. We offer our utility to the City as you identify opportunities and track progress across the LUP and particularly for the following Tasks: Ongoing ● Task C-2: Preserve natural areas and wetlands for recreational use ● Task C-3: Enforce green space requirements within new developments ● Task C-6: Encourage pest control and landscaping companies to implement best practices when applying pesticide and fertilizer ● Task C-7: Promote living shorelines ● Task C-8: Preserve and maintain gullies for recreational areas ● Task C-11: Implement Low Impact Development through the use of green infrastructure ● Task C-12: Construct Low Impact Development pilot projects in public right-of way and green space ● Task G-1: Design more parks for passive recreation Year 1: ● Task C-9: Develop and/or update City codes to protect the environment ● Task C-10: Identify development incentives for environmentally-friendly project components Year 2-3 ● Task C-4: Develop and implement green space maintenance plans for areas that are not covered by existing maintenance agreements ● Task E-20: Develop a citywide Bicycle, Pedestrian, and Greenways Masterplan Year 3-5 ● Task G-2: Develop new parks in the eastern and southern portions of Fairhope