Satellite Beach Youth Council focuses on lagoon cleanups, social media outreach and community events

At its inaugural meeting on Oct. 28, 2019, the Satellite Beach Youth Council spent most of its time brainstorming priorities and potential projects, with a strong focus on environmental work around the Indian River Lagoon and on building local outreach.

Members suggested lagoon cleanups, oyster-mat or mangrove plantings, and partnering with the Brevard Zoo to source seeds and volunteers. Participants discussed public-awareness ideas—posters, Instagram trivia, short videos—and agreed that Instagram should be a primary channel for youth engagement while cross-posting to Facebook to reach parents and the broader community.

Council members also proposed immediate community events to boost visibility: participating in the Ocean Reef Festival, assisting at the fire department''s annual family event, and organizing paddle-board or kayaking meetups to get young people on the water. Staff advised coordination with existing city boards (beautification, sustainability, PAL) to avoid duplicating activity and to access adult guidance and maintenance resources.

The city''s support services director, Britney Jumper, offered a short overview of municipal finances and said the city''s overall budget is available online. In the meeting she said the city''s overall budget was about $2,324,000,000 and that the general fund is ‘‘just over $13,000,000,'' with roughly 60% of general-fund revenue coming from property taxes; she offered to return for a deeper presentation.

Staff proposed an adopt-a-drain/storm-drain mural project (modeled on projects in other cities) to link public art and stewardship messaging; members responded positively and discussed applications, maintenance arrangements and partnering with local schools or businesses.

Operational items discussed included meeting logistics (fourth Monday of each month, excluding December and May), a target meeting end time of 9 p.m., a consensus approach for non-contested items (shirts, minor decisions), and the plan for members to draft mission-statement ideas and return with proposals at the next meeting.

Courtney Barker, the city manager, offered staff support, said the city can provide a small budget for youth-council projects and explained that the city's social-media platform archives public posts for public-records compliance. An audience member, Serena Videla, offered to serve as minutes recorder; members indicated they would welcome that help.