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07-30-2007 - Regular CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER REGULAR MEETING JULY 30, 2007 7:00 P.M. COMMUNITY CENTER MINUTES 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Thomas called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Center. ROLL CALL Mayor Michael Thomas Councilwoman Debra Rogers Councilman Dennis Vincenzi Councilwoman Harriet Rhodes Councilwoman Judith Lichter City Manager Jon Williams City Clerk Susan Wadsworth Deputy City Clerk Lisa Bloomer City Attorney Carolyn Ansay Present Present Present Excused Present Present Excused Present Present INVOCATION, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE There was a silent invocation and pledge of allegiance to the Flag. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Regular Meeting of May 21, 2007 Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve the May 21, 2007 minutes, second by Councilman Vincenzi. The MOTION CARRIED 4 - 0 . B. Regular Meeting of June 4, 2007 Councilman Vincenzi moved to approve the June 4, 2007 minutes, second by Councilwoman Lichter. The MOTION CARRIED 4 - 0 . C. Regular Meeting of June 18, 2007 Page 1 of 30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 Councilwoman Rogers stated the minutes are not verbatim; they are paraphrased from what she understands. She asked City Manager Williams if that was correct. City Manager Williams informed her Deputy City Clerk Bloomer could better answer that because she prepares them. Deputy City Clerk Bloomer informed her a lot of detail is put in the minutes because of concerns in the past that there is not enough detail and because of there not being one topic of discussion and the way the discussion bounces around, she puts as much information in there as she can. Councilwoman Rogers wanted to hold off approving the minutes for June 18th because of some additional information she has received that she thinks might need to be interjected. She has additional information of a discussion item and she believed it should be interjected in the minutes. Mayor Thomas asked if she could tell them which item it was. Councilwoman Rogers stated at this time what she would rather do is go back and listen to the tape. From that point, they can bring the minutes back to approve them. Councilman Vincenzi seconded that. The MOTION CARRIED 4 - 0 . Mayor Thomas informed Councilwoman Rogers that what he noticed in reading the minutes is it is hard for her to probably understand them. Councilwoman Rogers stated she understood that. She wasn't complaining; she just wanted to add something to it. Mayor Thomas stated she is trying to get the gist of what is happening. There were a lot of things he could have corrected but the gist of the conversation is correct. 3. PRESENTATIONS/PROCLAMATIONS/PLAQUES/CERTIFICATES/nON ATIONS There were no Presentations at this time. 4. CITIZEN COMMENTS The following citizens spoke: Page 2 of 30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 Mike Visconti, 316 Pine Breeze Drive, stated his comments are about the taxes. The citizens of Edgewater pay $24 million in property tax according to the Edgewater Facts about the Property Tax. The City only gets $6.2 million of the $24 million. No wonder the City is in such financial crisis. That means that 74% or $23.8 million of the $24 million goes to Volusia County. He spoke of working for $100 a week and only bringing home $26. There is no way he could survive on $26 per week. In order for the cities to operate they need a bigger piece of the pie. He suggested 50% of the taxes collected. It's not how much tax we collect; it's how much tax we keep. Because of this tax structure the cities must have to cut services, layoff employees, and freeze wages. He asked why? He asked the Mayors, City Managers and Councilmembers. They must negotiate with the County for a larger piece of that pie. Let the County do the cutting of the services and find a way to manage their County. The taxpayers of Edgewater pay their fare share of the taxes and should reap the benefits and not worry about how many police and firefighters are going to be laid off and how many services they cut. He urged the Council and Mayor to do just that. Bill Glasser, 1703 Needle Palm Drive, stated at the last Council meeting he asked a question about the Code of Ordinances and State speed limits and the City of Edgewater shall be 25 miles per hour. The Vice Mayor asked the Chief of Police if he would look into why the speed limits in Florida Shores are 30 miles per hour with no sidewalks and all these developments that are going in have sidewalks and they have 20 and 25 mile per hour speeds limits, except for San Remo, which has no speed limit signs posted and Coral Trace, which he assumes means their speed limits are 25 miles per hour. Since the Chief of Police wasn't at the meeting he assumed he didn't have a chance to look at it or he isn't going to get an answer. The ordinance says all residential streets in the City of Edgewater have speed limits of 25 miles per hour. Why do we have 30 mile per hour speed limits in Florida Shores with no sidewalks and these other places have sidewalks and they have 20 and 25 mile per hour speed limits. It doesn't make sense to him. He would like to know how this all came about. Mr. Glasser then spoke about the truck route. Back in 1998 Council rewrote the truck route ordinance. They said it was unfair to some of the businesses. Apparently put some Page 3 of 30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 kind of horrendous load on them to use the truck route. One of the things they said they were going to do was to make it easier on the truckers and he guessed they didn't care about the folks that have the trucks running on their streets. They made 16th Street from Mango to Hibiscus part of the truck route. Up until that time it was not part of the truck route. In the verbiage on the ordinance it says th the truck route goes from Park Avenue on Mango Tree to 15 Street. He asked which is right. Does the truck route go to 15th Street or does it go to 16th Street and then east to Hibiscus to SR 442. None of the trucks use the truck route anyway. He asked why the City trucks use Needle Palm Drive as a truck route. Mayor Thomas asked Mr. Glasser to get with Deputy Chief Bennett to give him his phone number and he was sure the Chief would call him back with regards to that question. 5. CITY COUNCIL REPORTS Councilman Vincenzi stated he had one comment about Code Enforcement. He has had one resident call him and e-mail him about Code Enforcement in the City and he took a ride around town with him on Sunday and he had some good valid points about people with overgrown grass and junk in the yard and not maintaining their houses the way they are supposed to or the way other people would like them to. He didn't know exactly how much could be done. He spoke with Fire Chief Barlow before the meeting and he informed him there is a big problem in Florida Shores, probably all over Florida with people getting their houses foreclosed on and repossessed and as a result maintenance on yards is not being done because the foreclosure process takes sometimes months to reclaim the house and then resell it. They are going to be working on that and he thought they were going to start a new initiative even though the Fire Chief says they are backlogged and overworked in Code Enforcement, they will see what thy can do about that. The guy he rode around with had some really good points and he couldn't argue any of them with him. Councilwoman Lichter reported on her trip to Russia. Councilwoman Lichter reported on the meeting she attended with the Moose Women yesterday at 10 a.m. They had a wonderful surprise for the Animal Shelter. They raised Page 4 of 30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 almost $400 and loaded her truck with merchandise and said the Animal Shelter is going to become a yearly project. Councilwoman Rogers had nothing at this time. Mayor Thomas thanked Mr. Corder for the fans that were installed in the Community Center. Mayor Thomas reported on his meeting with Hospice of Volusia/Flagler. They are going to locate a 12-bed facility in Southeast Volusia that is going to be down next to our medical thing. He asked them to come back and speak to Council. He is pleased they are coming here and he feels it is going to be a good addition for us. 6. CONSENT AGENDA A. Memorandum of Agreement between the City of Edgewater and YMCA - Addendum No.2, requesting an extension of three (3) years on completion of Phase II - Child care facilities and Phase III - Expansion of recreational amenities (racquetball courts) until January 2010 Herman Mitchell, Executive Director, Southeast Volusia YMCA, 148 W. Turgot Avenue, stated they are requesting an extension for the build out date that is specified in the contract. As the City grows and the area grows, they will grow with it. At this point, they aren't at the point where they can grow. The money has not been raised yet for the future expansion. They look forward to the future expansion and are constantly moving forward in that direction. Mayor Thomas asked Mr. Mitchell to tell the public that they are going to be able to payoff the pool in a short period of time. Mr. Mitchell stated they should have it paid off in the next five or six years. Mayor Thomas stated the YMCA is located in Edgewater but serves New Smyrna, Edgewater and Oak Hill. Most of the people that belong to the YMCA and utilize the YMCA belong to Edgewater. He asked Mr. Mitchell to pull up the figures. He asked Mr. Mitchell what the percentage is for Edgewater residents that use the facility. Mr. Mitchell informed him about 70%. Page 5 of 30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 Mayor Thomas mentioned the YMCA doing childcare and asked how many children they have. Mr. Mitchell stated for the summer they have been averaging about 160 to 170 kids a day in their summer day camp. The last after school they had averaged 150 and they were able to raise their limit to 165 so they are looking forward to the next school year being full also. Mayor Thomas expressed his appreciation of the YMCA and he is glad to have it in Edgewater. Mr. Mitchell informed him they are very appreciative to work with the City of Edgewater to provide these services. He spoke of offering assistance to anyone that can't afford the programs. There is a great need here. Last year they provided over $60,000 in assistance and this year they will probably surpass that. B. Volusia County Fire Chiefs' Association/Emergency Medical Services Trust Fund Grant Award - 100% reimbursement for the purchase of a $3,000.00 patient carbon monoxide monitor C. Emergency Medical Services Trust Grant Award - the City was awarded a reimbursement grant of $20,000.00 from the Department of Emergency Medical Services Trust Fund for the purchase of a 2011 Cardiac Monitor Fire Chief Barlow commented on Items B & C. They are both 100% grant reimbursements. He commented on the patient carbon monoxide monitor, which allows the medics to monitor the carbon monoxide if present within the bloodstream of a patient. He commented on this being extremely beneficial, especially post hurricane as they learned in 2004 on the west side of the State they had many deaths related to carbon monoxide. Fire Chief Barlow stated Item C is a 100% grant reimbursement for up to $20,000 for a Cardiac Monitor, which allows the medics to evaluate the electrical activity of the heart itself and help diagnose heart attacks early. Councilwoman Lichter asked if that is like the rescue thing they have in Edgewater Landing. Fire Chief Barlow informed her the cardiac monitor is much more technical but the same concept as what Edgewater Landing has, an automatic Page 6 of 30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 defibrillator. He pointed out the defibrillator in the Community Center. Councilwoman Lichter moved to accept the Consent Agenda, second by Councilwoman Rogers. The MOTION CARRIED 4 - 0 . 7. PUBLIC HEARINGS, ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS A. 2nd Reading, Ord. No. 2007-0-05, Sid Peterson requesting an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map to include 79.18I acres of land located south of the Taylor Road and Glencoe Road intersection as Low Density Residential with Conservation Overlay (lg. scale compo plan amendment) (1st Reading 4/16/07, Item 7C) City Attorney Ansay read Ord. 2007-0-05 into the record. Councilman Vincenzi moved to continue Ord. 2007-0-05 to the August 13th Council meeting, second by Councilwoman Rogers. The MOTION CARRIED 4 - 0 . B. 2nd Reading, Ord. No. 2007-0-06, Sid Peterson requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to include 79.18I acres of land located south of the Taylor Road and Glencoe Road intersection as RPUD (Residential Planned Unit Development) and approval of the associated RPUD Agreement for Villas at the Lakes (rezoning) (1st Reading 4/16/07, Item 7D) City Attorney Ansay read Ord. 2007-0-06 into the record. Councilwoman Rogers moved to continue Ord. 2007-0-06 to the August 13th Council meeting, second by Councilwoman Lichter. The MOTION CARRIED 4 - 0 . C. 2nd Reading, Ord. No. 2007-0-07, Glenn Storch requesting an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map to include 20.28I acres of land located south of Two Oaks Drive and north of 27th Street as Low Density Residential with Page 7 of 30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 Conservation Overlay (lg. scale compo plan amendment) (1st Reading 4/16/07, Item 7E) City Attorney Ansay read Ord. 2007-0-07 into the record. Councilwoman Lichter moved to continue Ord. 2007-0-07 to the August 13th Council meeting, second by Councilman Vincenzi. The MOTION CARRIED 4 - 0 . D. 2nd Reading, Ord. No. 2007-0-08, Glenn Storch requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to include 20.281 acres of land located south of Two Oaks Drive and north of 27th Street as R-3 (Single-Family Residential) (lst Reading 4/16/07, Item 7F) City Attorney Ansay read Ord. 2007-0-08 into the record. Councilwoman Rogers moved to continue Ord. 2007-0-08 to the August 13th Council meeting, second by Councilwoman Lichter. The MOTION CARRIED 4 - 0 . E. 1st Reading, Ord. No. 2007-0-13, amendment to the Land Development Code (LDC) to include Article XIX (Adult Entertainment) City Attorney Ansay read Ord. 2007-0-13 into the record. City Manager Williams made a staff presentation. He presented evidence into the record to support the findings used in drafting the new adult entertainment ordinance. Councilwoman Lichter stated she felt it embarrassing reading the ordinance. She doesn't understand why if no one is applying for this at this moment, they have to do this at this time when so far they have been alright with what they had. This is very explicit and brings up many more subjects. City Manager Williams stated this was at the Council's direction back in February to go back and revisit their existing adult entertainment ordinance to address any potential concerns that may be forth coming. Page 8 of 30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 City Attorney Ansay explained the ordinance is an attempt by the City to place restrictions upon the adult entertainment industry as it currently is allowed under Federal law. The reason they do it now is because once someone applies to open an establishment in Edgewater it would be essentially too late. You can't have an application come in and then regulate them after the fact without an existing ordinance. She commented on a situation in New Smyrna Beach and them not having an effective ordinance in place and having no means to prohibit an adult entertainment store from locating on U.S. #1. The u.S. Constitution, the First Amendment and the Supreme Court of the United States have significant protections in place for these types of businesses. They are allowed to put certain reasonable restrictions on them that this ordinance does, but if they go beyond that it will be struck down by a Federal court. It is important they have an ordinance in place before someone comes because if they don't essentially they will be grand fathered and will be able to locate anywhere. with this ordinance, they fix a problem before they get into a big fight. Councilwoman Lichter asked who the Development Services Department was. City Attorney Ansay informed her that is the City Department overseen by Darren Lear. Councilwoman Lichter asked if it should relate to the terminology of our City. She served on the Planning & Zoning Board for four years and it was never called Development Services. City Manager Williams thought Councilwoman Lichter was referring to the Planning & Zoning Board. When the Planning & Zoning and Building Departments merged they began addressing them as Development Services. Councilwoman Lichter asked if they are planning to locate it in an industrial area. City Manager Williams informed her it was planned for those areas that are labeled 1-1 zoning. City Attorney Ansay stated that do not front on Park Avenue. City Manager Williams stated as long as it meets the additional setbacks as well. Councilwoman Lichter stated she has never seen such an extensive document concerning any subject. City Attorney Ansay stated they did the ordinance for New Smyrna Beach after they got into trouble and they modeled the ordinance in New Smyrna Beach after several other cities that have gone through decades of litigation. They went through a Page 9 of 30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 lot of work with the Development Services Department to make sure the fit was right and they also had to amend a lot of things to fit the City. Councilman Vincenzi stated a lot of people don't understand why you need something like this. They would rather not have the businesses move in but you can't stop them. They need to regulate them as best as they can. This goes a long way in regulating these types of businesses compared to the current codes. He feels it is a pretty good ordinance and time will tell if it is tight enough. Councilwoman Rogers stated she is just happy this isn't here now. She is the one of the ones that brought this up way back when to have it come to fruition. Mayor Thomas compared this to playing baseball. He commented on having to have a set of rules. They patterned this after other cities, which they asked them to do. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Thomas opened and closed the public hearing and entertained a motion. Councilman Vincenzi moved to approve Ord. 2007-0-13, amendment to the Land Development Code (LDC) to include Article XIX (Adult Entertainment), second by Councilwoman Rogers. The MOTION CARRIED 4 - 0 . Mayor Thomas thanked City Attorney Ansay for her hard work on the ordinance. F. SP-0709 - Karavan Trailers - site plan approval - located west of u.s. Highway #1, south of Relocation Road City Manager Williams made a staff presentation. Mayor Thomas stated he read in the report that they didn't want to be located right on u.S. #1 because they weren't in the retail business, they are in the wholesale distribution and that is why they wanted to be off the road. He asked if they were going to build them there. City Manager Williams informed him they are going to put them together there and then they are going to distribute them out. They arrive in pieces, they take them off, unstack them, bolt Page 10 of30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 the wheels on them, put the lights on them and then distribute them. Councilman Vincenzi stated he read somewhere how many people they were going to employ but he didn't see it in the document he had. Bonnie Wenzel informed him she believed it was 30 to 35 within one year of opening. Councilwoman Rogers feels this is good for the economy of Edgewater, good for the taxes, good to bring in more jobs and this is a definite. They need to do it. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Thomas opened and closed the public hearing and entertained a motion. Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve SP-0709 in accordance with Section 21-81.01(m) and 21-93.03(e) of the City of Edgewater Land Development Code, second by Councilwoman Rogers. The MOTION CARRIED 4 - 0 . G. Res. 2007-R-07 - Declaring a primary election for October 9, 2007 & general election for November 6, 2007 & declaring beginning & end of voter registration & qualifying City Attorney Ansay read Res. 2007-R-07 into the record. She informed Council she would be asking them to approve the resolution changing everywhere it said General Election to City Election, since technically this is not a General Election it is a citywide election. Deputy City Clerk Bloomer made a staff presentation. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Thomas opened and closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Rogers moved to approve Res. 2007-R-07 as amended where it says General Election it would be replaced with City Election, second by Councilwoman Lichter. The MOTION CARRIED 4 - 0 . H. Res. 2007-R-08 - Providing for election workers for the primary & general election; approving the memorandum of agreement for polling places & Page 11 of30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 authorizing the Mayor or City Manager to execute & designation of City Clerk & Paralegal or designee for canvassing board on absentee ballots City Attorney Ansay read Res. 2007-R-08 into the record. City Manager Williams reminded Council when they entertain the resolution to amend the language from General to include City. Mayor Thomas opened the public hearing. The following citizen spoke: Dominic Capri a , 606 Topside Circle, stated he believed there were eight voting districts. He believed at one of them there were two districts together. He asked which ones they were. Deputy City Clerk informed him Precinct 903 & 904 would both be located at the Florida Shores Clubhouse. Mayor Thomas closed the public hearing and entertained a motion. Councilwoman Lichter moved to accept Res. 2007-R-08, second by councilman Vincenzi. City Attorney Ansay clarified in this resolution they need to get approval again with the change that everywhere in the resolution it says general they will replace it with the word city. Councilwoman Lichter included this in her motion. Councilman Vincenzi seconded the amendment. The MOTION CARRIED 4 - 0 . Councilwoman Lichter asked if there would be early voting. City Manager Williams informed her yes. Councilwoman Lichter asked if it would still be at the New Smyrna Beach library. Deputy City Clerk Bloomer didn't have the information with her but thought early voting was the week before. Councilwoman Lichter stated sometimes the new candidates are not aware. Page 12 of 30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 8. BOARD APPOINTMENTS A. MPO - Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee - nomination by Mayor Thomas to appoint Michael Carroll to fill a vacant seat due to the resignation of George Kennedy Mayor Thomas nominated Michael Carroll to be appointed to the MPO Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee. Councilwoman Rogers moved to approve the nomination of Michael Carroll to the MPO Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee, second by Councilwoman Lichter. The MOTION CARRIED 4 - 0 . 9. OTHER BUSINESS A. Curbside Residential Recycling Agreement - Amendment #1 - approve the option to renew the agreement with Southard Enterprises for an additional two (2) year term with the rate remaining at $2.25 per residential unit Deputy Director of Environmental Services Brenda DeWees made a staff presentation. Councilwoman Lichter asked if the gentleman was in the audience because she wanted to thank him for staying with the same price. Mayor Thomas asked for citizen comments. The following citizen spoke: Jeanne DelNigro, 3130 Tamarind Drive, stated she thought on the water bill for the recycling it was $1.90. She never saw it up to the $2.25. She asked when they increased it to $2.25. Mayor Thomas informed her last July. City Manager Williams confirmed it was last July. Mayor Thomas informed her he asked for a raise and they gave it to him at that time. Ms. DelNigro asked if they were getting $2.25 per house. She felt they were making a lot of money for the recycling. City Manager Williams informed her it was a competitive rate at that point in time. He couldn't recall everything that was presented at the meeting but he believed it was in comparison with the bids that were just Page 13 of 30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 recently received by New Smyrna Beach and it was the most competitive bid at that point in time. Ms. DelNigro asked about the people that don't recycle. City Manager Williams informed her they are still billed and they still pay it. Mayor Thomas entertained a motion. Councilman vincenzi stated he knows Mr. Southard and has for a number of years. He employs a lot of local people. He feels his prices are reasonable. With the price of fuel and maintenance and all going up it is really not a bad deal on the recycling. He didn't see any problem allowing them to raise the prices and he doesn't see any problem with allowing them to keep the same price for the next two years. He feels he does a good job and his people do a good job. Mayor Thomas again entertained a motion. Mr. Southard walked in at this time. Mayor Thomas asked the audience to applaud Mr. Southard. He informed Mr. Southard they were applauded him for keeping his rates at $2.25. He thanked him. Councilwoman Lichter moved to renew the Curbside Residential Recycling Agreement, Amendment #1, with Southard Enterprises Inc. for an additional two (2) year term to run from October 1, 2007 through September 30, 2009, at the current rate of $2.25 per residential recycling unit and to authorize the Mayor or City Manager to execute the agreement on behalf of the City, second by Councilman Vincenzi. The MOTION CARRIED 4 - 0 . B. Saltwater Intrusion Monitoring Well - staff recommending approval of Notice to Award bid to Diversified Drilling Corporation for the "Project" in the amount of $86,675.00 Deputy Director of Environmental Services Brenda DeWees made a staff presentation. Page 14 of30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 Mayor Thomas asked where it would be drilled at. Ms. DeWees informed him it would be out in the wellfields west of 1-95. Mayor Thomas asked if it would be where the rest of the wells are now. Ms. DeWees informed him that was correct. Mayor Thomas confirmed this was required by St. Johns and stated they have to do it. Ms. DeWees informed him that was correct. Councilwoman Lichter stated four years for them to give us our permit is probably one of the longest any city has had to wait so they had to do it. They really put the City in a bind. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Thomas opened and closed the public hearing and entertained a motion. Councilman Vincenzi moved to accept staff recommendation for approval of Notice to Award Bid to Diversified Drilling Corporation for the project in the amount of $86,675.00, second by Councilwoman Rogers. The MOTION CARRIED 5 - 0 . C. Setting the Millage Rate - staff recommending approval to advertise the millage for fiscal year 2008 at 5.70 Finance Director Brett Tanner made a staff presentation. City Manager Williams explained this is consistent with the same process they do every year. This is a work in process. These numbers will continue to evolve up until they get to the last two readings in September. They always come in and recommend that they advertise at the current millage rate, 5.70 that way if for some reason they get into a situation where the numbers change to drastically the Council is not bound. They only have the option to lower the millage rate from this point forward. Councilwoman Lichter asked City Manager Williams if the millage rate has ever gone back lower than the first night's recommendation. City Manager Williams informed her yes. Last year they advertised at 6.45 mills and they ended up adopting 5.70 mills. They have the flexibility to go down but they never the flexibility to go back up. Page 15 of30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 Councilwoman Rogers stated they always seem to start with the highest one and they try to reduce it to the lower one. Her concern is if they start at the top they are going to try to go below it. If they start somewhere in the middle or lower than they are pushing and forcing themselves to do what she believes the citizens want them to do. To start at the higher amount and come in lower it sounds like they knew they could come in at the lower amount to begin with. In the negotiations, she suggested they start where they feel they can do it. If they feel they can do it at 5.7, why don't they try to do it at the 5.37. Let's not dicker around like they are at a used car lot. Let's say what we mean and do it. City Manager Williams reminded Council they have some major items that are left out there to yet be negotiated. One of those items is the police and general employee bargaining unit agreements. There is a major uncertainty there. They don't want to get into a situation where their hands are tied. With this proposed scenario, it provides the greatest amount of flexibility. They have clearly heard the wants and needs of the citizens. That is why they presented a budget proposed at 4.89. There are several key items that have to come together in order for that to take place. If they do not come together and they have advertised at a lower rate, they have some pretty unpopular decisions they have to make. From their perspective this provides the greatest amount of flexibility. Mayor Thomas opened the public hearing. The following citizens spoke: Gigi Bennington, 121 Virginia Street, stated she needed an explanation. That excess, no matter which millage you use, is not really an excess. You have to have a balanced budget. She feels this is misleading saying that if you go with 4.89 you will have an excess of $227,495. You are not really going to have that excess. City Manager Williams commented on a statement in the CAFR that addresses excess revenues over expenditures. That is where that terminology is presented. Ms. Bennington feels for the general public that is sort of misleading. As Councilwoman Rogers said why not go with the lowest one if they are going to have an excess already with the lower one. City Manager Williams stated this is work in process. He commented on the excess revenue over expenditures being reduced from Friday to Page 16 of30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 today. Ms. Bennington stated she understands but she feels the general public does not realize that is not really an excess. City Manager Williams stated they are projecting that as excess money. Ms. Bennington stated but they are going to be putting it in to our saving fund to balance the budget so it really isn't an excess. If something comes up they are going to have to pull that to use it. City Manager Williams stated it is going to be in cash reserves. They could have presented the budget balanced where there was no excess. Ms. Bennington stated that is what she is used to. City Manager Williams stated they are trying to present something that is more representative of what normal folks see on a daily basis with regular operating statements and incomes with traditional business environment. Excess is probably not the exact term. In the private sector you would call it profit. In the government sector they call it fund balance. Even that description of fund balance isn't always specifically cash. They are going to try to evolve this process into using the terminology everybody recognizes. Dominic Capri a , 606 Topside Circle, agreed with Councilwoman Rogers. He doesn't think they should start at the 5.70. He knows there are things in the budget that can be reduced. He commented on the increase to Professional Services from 2007 to 2008. He stated the City Manager's proposal services went up $60,000. He commented on the increase to Community Development Planning and Building/Community Development. Mr. Capria asked if $4.5 million from the sale of ParkTowne is included in the budget. City Manager Williams stated the revenue is not projected however the debt services is removed from that budget. This budget is heavily contingent on that sale taking place. If they bind themselves at 4.89 and don't close it, the $227,000 excess they are projecting at 4.89 now becomes a deficit of $300,000 some odd dollars. They are placing the emphasis on advertising at 5.7 mills so they have some flexibility in the event some of the uncertain items don't come to fruition. The budget as proposed at 4.89 assumes that the property will be sold. City Manager Williams then addressed some of the Professional Services increases. Page 17 of30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 Mayor Thomas asked how many lawsuits the City has pending. City Attorney Ansay informed her the lawsuits they are involved in four or five at this point, not including the lawsuits Foley & Lardner is involved with. Mayor Thomas estimated there are possibly seven. City Manager Williams commented on an insurance company assigning a different firm to represent the City in some cases. Carol Ann Stoughton, 2740 Evergreen Drive, stated she was going to ask the same thing Mr. Capria asked, if the ParkTowne sale was included in this. Being it relies so heavily that this be sold she feels they should consider what $55,000 an acre represents here. A building lot for a home goes for well over $55,000. She feels there should be some negotiators to work with the City, as previously suggested by Mr. Anderson. They could use another person to come in here and try to buy this property. She doesn't feel they should just jump and sell it for over $2 million less than it is worth. She asked if this budget includes the debt for ten years on it or the bonding, which is $315,000 a year. City Manager Williams stated they brought back a counter proposal for the Council to consider and take action on July 2nd. The initial projection was around $215,000 that the City would come to the table with and one of the other sticking points was to negotiate some interest on the loan over the IS-month period. With those orders in hand, he went back and counter offered to the potential buyer and they have met in the middle. They countered to the extent that they needed $57,600 an acre and that they wanted to charge interest on the loan over the IS-month period. He countered back to us at $57,000 an acre with no interest on the loan and they felt that was acceptable at that point in time and brought forward a contract for the Mayor to execute based on the Council's decision. It is not just the purchase of the land. The City has in a sense hedged against the development requirements that are out there. Those responsibilities for the infrastructure for that road for the stormwater drainage system will be burdened by the buyer. That estimate is around a $6 million number. Under the scenarios they have before them, there was no funding mechanism in place. This Council has given direction that we aren't interested in going out and incurring additional debt. Their hands were essentially tied. The proposal that came forward was a very good proposal and will satisfy some obligations we have to build an additional road, which Page 18 of30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 will further drive the economic development within the park. He spoke of two businesses that are anticipating the award of the contract so they can get started. He spoke of addressing a con span to provide access across one of the drainage canals, which will open up some additional parcels to allow a local boat manufacturer to go forward with the expansion of his project. He commented on concern as to whether or not there has been a partnership. He believes there has been a partnership. They have addressed some of the issues the City is faced with. They understand the importance of the right type of development because they are making a substantial investment into the park. They have an interest in making sure this park grows as well because that protects their investment. Linda Small, 1629 Willow Oak Drive, stated they have the potential to save a lot of money through the proposals made about the General Employee Pension Fund modifications, the retire retention without accrual of additional retirement benefits. City Manager Williams informed her that is not reflected in anyone of the proposals presented tonight. Ms. Small stated if we are able to accomplish that, then that would provide great relief to these three budgets. City Manager Williams stated under the 4.89 scenario they would add about $222,000 to the excess which they have identified splitting that money and beginning to address some of their emerging capital needs. Ms. Small asked if the modification is mandated or negotiated. City Manager Williams stated Council consensus is that there are some modifications that are necessary. They met with the board today and outlined the options that are there. There is some heartburn over them, which you can rightly expect. These folks were promised something and the provisions are changing somewhat in the middle of the game. He feels after talking to them and hearing their concerns and working together on this that they will find a mutual resolution. Ms. Small stated the benefit of being able to retire as a City employee, retain your position and continue to accrue benefits in the retirement plan that is just amazing to everybody who knows about it. Ms. Small stated with the YMCA delaying some of their changes, they can take out things like racquetball courts. City Manager Williams stated all of those items were removed. Page 19 of30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 Ms. Small stated they are assuming that in January 2008 there will be the passing of the property tax reform package and that is a huge assumption. It mayor may not happen. Ms. Small stated if our police was provided by Volusia County, the Sheriff's Department would be dealing with the lawsuits now, not us. City Manager Williams stated in response to January 29th, they are very cognizant of that pending constitutional amendment. Their efforts at this point have been to try to present a balanced budget now and they will cross that bridge when they are forced with that. Pat Card, 3019 Willow Oak Drive, asked if all three proposals provide unrestricted unencumbered reserve equal to the requirements of the Charter. City Manager Williams stated they believe this excess money, $227,000, added to where they ended up last year will satisfy the requirements for reserve. Council gave him direction and consensus that every year they are going to target excess funds, cash fund balance in the form of $500,000 in each one of the funds to contribute back towards the unreserved Charter requirements. He thinks at that point in time they can begin to set up reserve accounts for emerging capital needs that they don't really have in place. They are trying to set up those reserves and establish some sound business practices. Mayor Thomas asked City Manager Williams how many days operating expense does the City have now. If a disastrous event happened how many days could we operate in this City? City Manager Williams informed him what they typically do as staff is they always revert back to the last set of audited financial statements. The numbers change daily. Based off the last audited financial statements, he thought they presented a graph that there was about 19 days available for emergency operations. Mayor Thomas stated we are at a bare minimum. He has talked to other cities that have 40 and 60 days. It is scary to him that Edgewater only has 19 days. He asked if that is the fund balance that we are supposed to have in the Charter. City Manager Williams informed him it is cold, hard cash. He estimated a $1.1 million or $1.5 million number. From a cash perspective they don't have Page 20 of 30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 the cash. Often when folks talk about fund balance there is a need for everybody to understand it isn't strictly cash. It is also in the form of receivables. Those receivables should be converted to cash within a 50-day operating period but have not and so that is the cause for concern. Due to there being no further comments, Mayor Thomas entertained a motion. Councilman Vincenzi stated he is all for the 4.89 millage, however, if they had to look at the budget, that is dependent on a lot of things happening. He thinks the 4.89, restricting yourself to that at this time is a formula for disaster. However, he thinks the 5.7 is a little too high. He recommended the middle ground, which gives the City a little bit of a buffer. If negotiations go as planned and some kind of amicable agreement is met that everybody can live with, then he is all for lowering it and going to the bare bottom at 4.89. He thinks doing it now and not having any flexibility at all he feels is a real mistake. Mayor Thomas asked what the State mandate is that they do. City Manager Williams informed him 4.89. Mayor Thomas stated that is what they are trying to get at but you have to leave yourself some buffer for some mistakes and that is what they are trying to do. They will be shooting for 4.89. Councilman Vincenzi stated what a lot of people don't understand is there are a lot of things pending. There are a lot of benefits that employees don't want taken away and he doesn't blame them at all. He would be upset too if that was him. But they have been given this stuff in the past. They want to keep it and some of it is excessive such as the retirement contributions. That has to be renegotiated and has to be changed. There are a number of other things that have to fall in place in order for that 4.89 millage rate to work. He doesn't see everything falling in place in order for that to be a success. Councilwoman Lichter stated that she is leaning that way also. The 4.89 is too tight. She is also a bit worried about the middle one but she is leaning that way. The pensions and all that have to be looked at and changes are made in life. They are trying to tweak it and make it Page 21 of30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 better. She is worried if she goes in the middle about cuts. She doesn't want to have to cut bodies. That is why her mind is going between the middle and the top. She thinks they could skim enough to live with the middle. City Manager Williams stated he presented to Council all the vacant positions they are projecting right now with this proposed budget at 4.89. Everybody that is employed today will have a job and they have heard that come from Council and they have incorporated that into these projections. with the vacant positions they are proposing, they are very thin. He commented on Jack Corder being tasked with now satisfying the highway maintenance in order to make the budget work. They are prioritizing as many of the services as they have. They may not be there exactly as fast as they were in previous years. The grass may grow an inch or two longer before they get there. Councilwoman Lichter commented on only getting a quarter on every dollar back from the County. She feels that is a problem. She commented on not having the tax base that New Smyrna has. All levels of government are going to have to pull in the belt. They have to be very careful. She thinks they can live with the middle one. Councilwoman Rogers commented on Friday's budget workshop. There were funds that weren't balanced and now they are having to set a millage when those numbers were not finalized. She understands it is a work in progress. It would seem to her that perhaps in the future that they have balanced funds and an actual budget that they are going to work with. Finance Director Tanner informed her the budget was balanced. Councilwoman Rogers stated there were other items that were not in balance. At least that is what she was told. She brought up one item that was a mistake and it wasn't the only mistake. It was just the only item she brought up because they spent 30 minutes going over it. At this point they have to have a 2/3 vote for the 5.37. She feels they aren't going to get a 4.89 because they won't have majority. She hopes to start at the 5.37 and try to get it down to 5. She believes there is still a lot of room in the budget. She was told that a methodology of zero-based budgeting was used. She doesn't believe it was totally used. If they can start at 5.37, that is where they can start. Page 22 of 30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 City Manager Williams stated when they went into this budget cycle they clearly heard the suggestions and recommendations from the Council. He has clearly pointed out to all Councilmembers that they would not be using zero based for personnel costs and debt service costs because those they can tie back to and project with relative precision. The directors were given the marching orders to start their operating at zero based. Those folks incorporated it and presented this budget. That is why they were presented with a budget that was based upon a 4.89 millage rate, which represents a 16% decrease over 2007's proposed. Councilman Vincenzi made a motion to adopt a millage rate of 5.37 with the intention of going down if everything falls into place to 4.89, second by Councilwoman Rogers. The MOTION CARRIED 4 - 0 . Finance Director Tanner stated the vote of debt service millage rate of .0271 for the animal shelter, which equals revenue of $32,500 to pay the payment of the debt service. They need to authorize the City Manager to advertise this as well. City Manager Williams stated they have the vote of debt service millage rate for the animal shelter and every year that the property tax values increase you reduce that millage rate to generate the same amount of funds that are necessary to meet the debt service obligations. 10. OFFICER REPORTS A. City Clerk Deputy City Clerk Bloomer had nothing at this time. B. City Attorney 1) BP Bond Claim City Attorney Ansay reported we were involved in a claim that was filed by the City relating to the performance bond that was in place for the construction and installation of the stage cover at Hawks Park. The City entered into a contract for that to be installed and put some money down Page 23 of 30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 and basically the work never took place. They had to file a claim against the bond. Last week the court ordered that the City would be reimbursed approximately $85,000 which would be all of the cost and fees incurred to get the money back. That was a good success. Councilman Vincenzi asked when they are going to get a roof on the amphitheater. Mr. Corder informed him now that that is settled he has to start over with the bid process. He has until March 2008 to have it completed with the grant money. Councilman vincenzi asked if it would cost more. If it costs more there is still money left in the escrow where they can go back and file an additional claim to get that money. C. City Manager 1) Shuffleboard Court Report City Manager Williams read a memo from Jack Corder regarding the monthly update on the shuffleboard facilities. Councilwoman Rogers stated it is now July 30th and the last contact was July 10th. She asked Mr. Corder if he has had any contact in the interim. Mr. Corder stated in his conversation with him he asked him to be patient because of their work load. He is giving them until the end of the week and he will be calling again. 2) Tentative Agenda Items City Manager Williams commented on rescheduling the September meetings. They would like to reschedule September 3rd to September 10th due to the Labor Day holiday. They would like to reschedule September 17th to September 24th. Those two meetings would also be the final two hearings for the adoption of the budget. Councilwoman Lichter moved to reschedule September 3rd to September 10th due to the Labor Day holiday and reschedule September 17th to September 24th, second by Councilman Vincenzi . The MOTION CARRIED 4 - 0 . Page 24 of 30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 Mayor Thomas recognized the City employees that were present at the meeting. 11. CITIZEN COMMENTS The following citizens spoke: Peter Bouzianis, 115 Frances Drive, stated three years ago they were allowed a license to operate a slot machine operation at the Neptune. At the time, they were giving back 76% back to the people. He walked into the Internet Cafe, which is a Canada based company, which he didn't understand how they could operate legally in Edgewater with smoking and food in there. It's an illegal operation making $13,000 a week. He thinks it is totally preposterous. How do they allow that in the City of Edgewater? He spoke for the people putting $100 in the machine and getting no returns. He suggested the City tax this place. There is a lot of money going through that place. He stated and then they are talking about an adult place. He feels this will bring in riff raff, limousines, call girls, prostitution, and drugs. These police officers having been fighting drugs for years. He feels they are bringing crime in. He suggested they be realistic. He suggested they walk into the Internet Cafe at night, you can't breath. Mayor Thomas asked if anybody understood what Mr. Bouzianis was talking about so they could investigate it. Andy Anderson, 1730 Pine Tree Drive, concurred with Mr. Bouzianis. He feels they are going to bring the crime in. No question about it. It is going to bring trouble. Mr. Anderson informed Mayor Thomas that the last meeting he presided over, which was a couple of months ago, he was approaching the podium to say something and he saw him coming and he closed the meeting. He didn't appreciate that. He thought it was very rude. He hopes it doesn't happen again to him or anyone else. Dot Carlson, 1714 Edgewater Drive, concurred with Mr. Bouzianis and Mr. Anderson. Back in the early 1990's, Mr. Hayman said they would have no nudes on the beach in Edgewater. Fortunately we do not have a beach in Edgewater. Page 25 of 30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 Ms. Carlson stated they had a survey done of 350 people. The answers came back but they don't have answers to all the questions that were on the survey. She feels they should have all the answers to all the questions. Bill Glasser, 1703 Needle Palm Drive, stated he would like to continue Councilman Vincenzi's comments about Code Enforcement. Back in his younger years he worked on the pipeline and also building high voltage transmission line towers through the northern pan handle of West Virginia. He had occasion to go back in the hollows and it was very interesting to see some of these places. Most of them had a junk car sitting in their front yard and up on milk crates. The only difference he has noticed as he walks around Florida Shores especially, is most of the junk cars in West Virginia had goats living in them. He spoke to Fire Chief Barlow and he explained to him the evolution of the Code Enforcement in Edgewater and that they used to be proactive. Then there was a 17-person committee that decided they wanted Edgewater to look like West Virginia. He commented on junk cars half on the road and half in the city right of way. He sees trailers and boats full of junk woods. He sees mobile bar-b-ques sitting in the middle of somebody's yard. RV's without licenses on them. They said a while back they got the City employees thinking. He suggested the trash people could notice those types of things and report it to Code Enforcement. He suggested they ask the people of Edgewater do they want to look like a hollow in West Virginia or do they want to look like a progressive City. Mayor Thomas asked Fire Chief Barlow if they are proactive in Code Enforcement. Fire Chief Barlow explained they are a combination of both. They are complaint driven and proactive. In the month of July they received 107 complaints, a majority being grass and weed problems, most of them being homes that are vacant and in foreclosure. As they try to track down the owners of the vacant properties in foreclosure they are finding out there is some form of lending institute. As they try to hold them accountable and responsible to go out there and mow it because the City is shy on staff as well and he is concerned with the City maintaining all these properties, placing liens on the properties knowing these properties already have liens that exceed the market value as well. Page 26 of 30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 Fire Chief Barlow commented on neglected premises and junk in the yard. They are trying to keep their heads above water there as well. They have an online Code complaint system and monitoring system. Any citizen can generate a complaint and monitor where the complaint is as well. They also try to patrol and pick up other complaints alone. Mayor Thomas asked how many Code Enforcement Officers they have. Fire Chief Barlow informed him three. Mayor Thomas stated so they need help from the citizens of Edgewater reporting these violations. Fire Chief Barlow stated they are working as hard and as fast as they can. He suggested anybody that can do their part in helping to keep their own properties picked up so they don't have to deal with them for neglected premises. Fire Chief Barlow commented on working on the junked vehicles. It has only been several months ago that the Land Development Code was changed. The vehicles are now required to be registered and tagged. If not they will be illegal. Prior to that they just needed to be operable. City Manager Williams stated they are internally evaluating a concept of neighborhood communities where they can create and establish neighborhood communities throughout the city and identify folks they can create a network of communication with in hopes of addressing these issues on a small community approach. They will be bringing that back to Council for a discussion item hopefully very soon. Duke Southard, 1604 Sabal Palm Drive, the City's Contractor for picking up recycling, apologized for coming in late. He thought the meeting started at eight. He spoke to Mr. Wadsworth and the City Manager, when they had their last meeting at City Hall with recycling, they agreed they would take the next two contracts both at the same price without raising the rates if they gave them the $2.25 that they got. He asked him the other day if he would sign for both of them at this time so they could be done with them. He stated he did sign for both of them but he sees it on the agenda that they only put down two years. If they want to go with the other two, that is fine with him and they will not raise the rate. He did say at the Council meeting they would not ask for a raise for the next two contracts, which they are two years a piece and he asked if he would sign for both of them and he did. Page 27 of 30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 Mr. Southard stated he felt the City was doing a very good job with recycling. He thought they were getting close to 80% participation, which is one of the highest in the country, between Edgewater and New Smyrna. They are both doing very well according to the County and all the other. They are one of the best tonnage per house recyclers in Florida. People are doing a good job for them and they appreciate it. Ted Cooper, 3028 Mango Tree Drive, asked Mr. Southard if it was like everything else that has gone up as far as gas and everything else. He asked if the recycling cost per ton for aluminum and everything else has gone up so they are getting a little more and that is how they are able to hold their price. Mr. Southard stated yes it is. They are getting more for aluminum cans and more for plastic. The only thing they are getting less for is the glass. They lose about $1,000 a week for glass. It is part of the price of doing business. Everything else is up. The brokers they deal with are sending a lot of stuff to China. They are taking the plastic and reusing it for rugs and stuff in other parts of the world so that is what is keeping the price up. Mike Visconti, 316 pine Breeze Drive, stated they have a home at 339 pine Breeze. He asked what the ordinance was for the height of grass. Fire Chief Barlow informed him if it is an improved lot anything over the height of 12" is in violation. Carol Ann Stoughton, 2740 Evergreen Drive, stated she has just been apprised that there are 38 homes in Coral Trace that the people have walked away. They cannot pay their mortgages or their taxes. Before they start annexing and building more houses, we are in a very bad financial situation because there are no jobs here. This is going to be trend they should watch especially with regard to annexing. Ted Cooper, 3028 Mango Tree Drive, stated they have an entire volunteer citizens group going around with our cars and asked if they can put them to use. Fire Chief Barlow stated he has plenty of eyeballs out there. He has more eyeballs than worker bees to actually process these cases and get them before the Code Enforcement Board. Once he gets them before the board and they direct staff to mow it then it takes more worker bees to go out and mow it at the Page 28 of 30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 City's expense. Then liens are placed on the property that already has liens that exceed the market value. It is a cycle that he and City Manager Williams plan to meet and strategize a plan going forward in addressing these. Mr. Cooper suggested taking the Citizens on Patrol, bring that committee one step further where citizens in Edgewater, people in Edgewater that can't afford to mow their lawns, he was sure they could get enough volunteers to clean up Edgewater and maybe get a little camaraderie going amongst the city and not cost us more money. He feels if they ask they would have a lot of volunteers. Fire Chief Barlow informed him he understood his merits but when you start trespassing on private property and the liability associated with it it is probably a question better suited for the City Manager and City Attorney. City Attorney Ansay stated there are certainly a lot of issues when you deputize citizens to act on the City's behalf. Getting the complaints in and learning of the violations is probably less the problem. It is going through the statutorily required processes to go from violation to either compliance or fine that you need the staff for. The law requires you to do certain things. The staff it takes to process is what limits you in the number of cases you can pursue. She commented on the City still being on the Code Enforcement Board regime verses a special master, an individual who serves as essentially a judge that can rip through 20 cases in a quick period of time. Most of the larger cities and smaller cities that are really aggressive with Code Enforcement have gone from the board to a special master situation. In her opinion, it is much more streamlined and much more affective. Councilwoman Lichter stated it has been brought up in the ten years since she has been on Council. She went up to Ormond Beach and watched a special master. They have looked at this situation in Edgewater. She commented on there being two different opinions from the citizens. Some people feel it is their property and they can do what they want with it. She spoke of wanting it to look like it does in homeowners groups where there are more stringent rules then in the City. In the past they have tried many approaches to solve this problem. One was not necessarily to have citizens be the watchdogs but the truck drivers and the policemen that work for the City. She then commented on going through the legal process that is involved. She Page 29 of 30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007 suggested they look into the special master again. As they grow it is a system that will get them through faster. City Manager Williams agreed to look at this and bring it back. Councilwoman Lichter commented on people being afraid to report their neighbors. It is better when a complaint comes in in an objective way. She spoke of there only being three people in Code Enforcement and there being many different situations. She thought they should start looking at it again. Mike Visconti, 316 pine Breeze Drive, stated they have a homeowners association and they have strict rules but this particular family will not adhere to the rules. He volunteered to do the grass but he was informed he would be trespassing. 12 . ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, the meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Lisa Bloomer Page 30 of 30 Council Regular Meeting July 30, 2007