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10-01-2007 - Regular CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER REGULAR MEETING OCTOBER 1, 2007 7:00 P.M. COMMUNITY CENTER MINUTES 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Thomas called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:07 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 Assistant City Attorney Michael Ciocchetti Present Present Present Excused Present Present 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 July 30, 2007 Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve the July 30, 2007 minutes, second by Councilman Vincenzi. The MOTION CARRIED 4 - 0 . 3. PRESENTATIONS/PROCLAMATIONS/PLAQUES/CERTIFICATES/DON ATIONS There were no Presentations at this time. 4. CITIZEN COMMENTS There were no Citizen Comments at this time. Page 1 of 13 Council Regular Meeting October 1, 2007 5. CITY COUNCIL REPORTS Councilwoman Lichter had nothing at this time. Councilwoman Rogers had nothing at this time. Councilman vincenzi had nothing at this time. Mayor Thomas reported on the VCOG Smart Growth Committee meeting he attended today. They have got Map A about 99% complete. They are going to talk about TDR's at the next meeting, Transfer Development Rights. Then they are going to try to move on to Map B. 6. CONSENT AGENDA There were no items to be discussed on the Consent Agenda at this time. 7. PUBLIC HEARINGS, ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS There were no Public Hearings, Ordinances or Resolutions to be discussed at this time. 8. BOARD APPOINTMENTS A. Planning & Zoning Board - nomination by Councilman Vincenzi to fill a vacant seat due to the expired term of Pat Card (9/27/07), who seeks reappointment Councilman Vincenzi moved to reappoint Pat Card, second by Councilwoman Lichter. The MOTION CARRIED 4 - 0 . 9. OTHER BUSINESS A. Water/Wastewater Chemicals - staff recommending approval of Notice of Award bid to: O-N Minerals (Luttrel) Company for the purchase of High Calcium Quicklime for an estimated annual expenditure of $139,638.64, and to Airgas Carbonic for the purchase of liquid carbon dioxide for an estimated annual $30,375.00, and for the Mayor and/or City Manager to execute all associated documents Page 2 of 13 Council Regular Meeting October 1, 2007 Director of Environmental Services Terry Wadsworth made a staff presentation. Mayor Thomas entertained a motion. Councilwoman Rogers moved to accept the bid for high calcium quicklime from O-N Minerals (Luttrel) Company ror an estimated annual expenditure or $139,638.64, second by Councilman Vincenzi. The MOTION CARRIED 4 - 0 . B. Western Reserve Area Utility Project - consideration of the abandonment of force main, temporary construction easement, and quit claim deed relating to this project and authorization of the Mayor and/or City Manager to execute the associated documents Director of Environmental Services Terry Wadsworth made a staff presentation. Mayor Thomas asked how much it would cost. Mr. Wadsworth informed him the insurance company was seeking bids from the original contract. That portion of the line is probably worth $150,000. Mayor Thomas confirmed the City wouldn't be paying for it. Mr. Wadsworth informed him it was the insurance company for the surveyor and they are completely responsible for it. Councilwoman Lichter asked if this is where they have the problem with Mission Road and SR 442. Mr. Wadsworth informed her it was in the middle of a block almost between Park Avenue and SR 442 on Mission. It comes down the FPL easement. It comes out a little bit to the north of where Magnolia Village is. Councilwoman Lichter commented on Magnolia Village having problems. She suggested one day they should look into who did the survey work for Mission Road and SR 442. That doesn't look so good either. Mayor Thomas informed Councilwoman Lichter he was talking about a water line. Mr. Wadsworth informed him it was a sewer force main. Page 3 of 13 Council Regular Meeting October 1, 2007 Mayor Thomas entertained a motion. Councilwoman Lichter moved to abandon the force main temporary construction easement and quit claim deed related to this project and authorize the Mayor or City Manager to execute the associated documents, second by Councilman vincenzi. The MOTION CARRIED 4 - 0 . C. Formalize the Evaluation and Appraisal Report (EAR) issues list as required by the Florida Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Janet Shira, B & H Consultants, made a presentation. She suggested if the Council wanted to discuss the formal list, if there was anything they wanted to add, delete or modify any of the language before they actually take a vote on it. Mayor Thomas stated they were reading didn't see about the high unit value. under Item 1 - Taxes they referred to development as high unit. some words that he Ms. Shira stated the residential Ms. Shira stated there was a comment made that this list was not available. They have made this list available on the City's website and at every EAR Committee meeting in hopes to generate public comments. They have done the best they can to get out there with this information. Councilwoman Lichter asked how they might change the verbiage with regard Item 1 - Taxes and the reference to the high unit value. City Manager Williams suggested they could strike unit and just say high value. Dave Ross, 2803 Needle Palm Drive, suggested changing it to high value unit, low density. If they are talking about expensive single-family residences then you are talking about low density. When you are talking about condominiums and apartments you are talking about high density. That would clarify the intent. Mayor Thomas felt striking the word unit would be the simplest thing to do. Page 4 of 13 Council Regular Meeting October 1, 2007 Mayor Thomas asked if there was a motion to that effect. Councilwoman Lichter stated she didn't want to let it be thought of if they put such emphasis on that one that they aren't thinking of all types of housing. That might be one way. She doesn't want other things to be eliminated. Mr. Lear pointed out that on Number 7 the Two Way Tie they have Housing where they are encouraging a variety of housing. Councilwoman Lichter suggested taking out the word unit in Number 1. Mayor Thomas stated the motion would be to accept this as written except to strike that one word unit. He asked if that was correct. Councilwoman Lichter stated yes, that would be the motion. Councilwoman Rogers seconded the motion. Councilman Vincenzi stated that is just a motion to change that one word. Councilwoman Rogers stated a motion to accept it and change that one word. Councilwoman Vincenzi didn't have a problem with this. He stated once they approve this and it goes back to Planning & Zoning they are going to have start working on these and figuring out more detail and how to do you define high value and how you define low municipal impact. He asked what the next procedure is. It seems to him that terminology can really be misconstrued. Ms. Shira stated eventually once the EAR is written with all these items then it will come back to Council with their new Comp Plan and then they can direct the Planning & Zoning Board to start tackling these things one at a time or all at once. Councilman Vincenzi stated once it is approved what is the next step. Ms. Shira stated once the list is approved she and Mr. Lear will be meeting with all the various agencies to share it with them. Once they have understood it they will be working with DCA to get the State to say yes these are appropriate. Go ahead and write your EAR document, which is basically your new plan. Page 5 of 13 Council Regular Meeting October 1, 2007 Councilman Vincenzi stated so it will be right in the Comp Plan or is it developing a new one. Ms. Shira informed him it's the process of developing an update to the Comp Plan. Councilman vincenzi stated so at that time they can go ahead and define what a high value thing is and what low municipal impact is. Someone is going to have to define it at some time. Ms. Shira stated in rewriting the plan they would do that. The Planning & Zoning Board will probably make recommendations to Council and it will ultimately be the Council's decision on what those definitions are and what the plan says. Councilman Vincenzi stated so they are going to throw it back over the fence with no solution again. He understands it is a long drawn out process. Ms. Shira stated unfortunately it is. This is the start. Councilman Vincenzi stated he didn't have any problem with the rewording. Mayor Thomas stated the motion is on the floor to accept the document submitted written as is except for striking the word unit under Number 1 - Taxes. The MOTION CARRIED 4 - 0 . D. ParkTowne Industrial Center - Rowan Way and Base Leg Drive - Construction Phase Engineering Services Proposal Director of Environmental Services Terry Wadsworth made a staff presentation. Mayor Thomas asked if it was part of the agreement. City Manager Williams informed him yes this would come out of the funds from the purchase of the 83 acres. Councilwoman Rogers confirmed it was in the budget and the request indicates it is an estimate. She asked if there was a not to exceed amount. She asked how much was budgeted. City Manager Williams informed her they are hoping it doesn't exceed the $77,000. Mr. Wadsworth explained the original proposal was for $99,000. They negotiated it down with the engineers by being able to do both projects. It is $22,000 less than what the original budgeted figure was. Page 6 of 13 Council Regular Meeting October 1, 2007 Mayor Thomas entertained a motion. Councilman Vincenzi moved to accept the Engineering Services Proposal from Quentin L. Hampton for the Construction Phase of the Base Leg Drive and Rowan Way Projects in ParkTowne Industrial Center relative to Bid No. 07-ES-02, at an estimated fee of $77,375.00 and to authorize the City Manager to execute engineering work order no. 2007-01 on behalf of the City, second by Councilwoman Lichter. The MOTION CARRIED 4 - 0 . 10. OFFICER REPORTS A. City Clerk City Clerk Wadsworth announced that the meeting to be held on October 15th would now be held on October 18th. City Clerk Wadsworth reminded the Council that they have a special meeting on October 10th at 6:00 p.m. to certify the election results. B. City Attorney Assistant City Attorney Ciocchetti had nothing at this time. Mayor Thomas stated he was interested in the pending lawsuits. Assistant City Attorney Ciocchetti stated he knows that their response is due within the next two weeks and that the court has set a date for a hearing to consider the Man Damus with regard to ECARD. He believed the court date was October 22nd. City Clerk Wadsworth thought it was the 16th. Assistant City Attorney Ciocchetti agreed to confirm that and send out the information. C. City Manager City Manager Williams had nothing at this time. 1) Tentative Agenda Items Page 7 of 13 Council Regular Meeting October 1, 2007 There were no Tentative Agenda Items to be discussed at this time. 11. CITIZEN COMMENTS The following citizens spoke: Pat Card, 3019 Willow Oak Drive, thanked the Council for their continued confidence. He wondered if Assistant City Attorney Ciocchetti would only be attending the meetings that were less than a half hour. Jeanne DelNigro, 3130 Tamarind Drive, stated she was very upset because she found out tonight that one engine is down at the Fire Station on Hibiscus. She asked if anyone knew where the Fire Chief was. Mr. Balmer informed her he was riding the fire truck tonight with the Captain. Ms. DelNigro asked what he was doing on a fire truck. Mr. Balmer stated no replacements. Mayor Thomas informed Ms. DelNigro he was saving them money he guessed. Ms. DelNigro asked why the fire truck was down and stated they are jeopardizing the people's lives in the City. She asked if they realized that by what they are doing. Mayor Thomas stated he didn't think they had any choice with what they did. The State mandated them to do something and they did what they had to do. He informed Ms. DelNigro to find a way to get him more money and he would be glad to do that. Ms. DelNigro asked him if he would be willing to go out and ride the fire truck. Mayor Thomas informed her he would. Ms. DelNigro suggested he call the Chief and get out there and ride it with him. The City is jeopardizing the citizens' lives in the City with a truck down. They have three men on and if something else happens in this City they are doomed. She asked if she could ask a fireman a question. She asked Jeff Lariscy if on a normal working day they have five firemen. Mr. Lariscy informed her full staffing at the other station is five firefighters. Ms. DelNigro asked him how many they had today. Mr. Lariscy informed her three. Ms. DelNigro asked him if they got a call in the City today and if they had to call another unit in. Mr. Lariscy stated they had to call New Smyrna for automatic aid this morning. They had to call New Smyrna to cover our City this morning already. Page 8 of 13 Council Regular Meeting October 1,2007 Ms. DelNigro asked why that was happening. Councilwoman Lichter stated because Edgewater has a cooperative plan with cities to help each other in need. Ms. DelNigro stated if there are only three men on and one truck is down and say Mr. Lear is having a heart attack. They respond to him and all of a sudden she is having a heart attack. What is she supposed to do? Drop dead while they are taking care of him? Common sense. Mayor Thomas stated the people said they didn't want to pay the taxes. It is as simple as that. Councilwoman Lichter felt her questions aren't answered by those of them that aren't pros. This was worked out in conjunction with the City Manager and the Fire Chief. They also are as vulnerable as 22,000 people and they are all trying to make it go around. She was sure they would not let her die. How can they be sure of anything in life. They are doing the best they can. Each department had to cut very important services. They have to team up with other cities in certain circumstances. She felt it would be a more appropriate time when the Fire Chief was there. She suggested maybe City Manager Williams would know better. She wasn't in on the details of their negotiations. City Manager Williams stated he and Fire Chief Barlow picked up right where they left off after the budget was approved last Monday in trying to provide some solutions. They met Thursday. As they were meeting ring tones went out for the fire that took place in ParkTowne. The mutual aid agreement that we have in place worked perfectly. They had the cities of New Smyrna, Port Orange and Volusia County on scene and responding. He rode out to the site with Fire Chief Barlow and he commended the efforts of our Fire Department along with those other cities and Volusia County that responded. It was very impressive to watch. They did a wonderful job and are commended for that. They are working on solutions. He and Fire Chief Barlow have set down and approached this from an FTE equivalent and they continue to refine those numbers and will continue to revise those numbers in an effort to provide a solution to the problem. Mayor Thomas stated don't they have two stations. He then asked how many were on duty tonight. City Manager Williams couldn't answer that question. Typically they run with Page 9 of 13 Council Regular Meeting October 1,2007 eight. His proposal was that he would not backfill with overtime as a result of vacation and sick time. He didn't discuss the staffing level with the Chief today. Mayor Thomas asked if the firemen could tell him how many people were on duty tonight. Someone informed him three personnel at each station. Chris Balmer, 148 William Street, stated they appreciate what the Council is doing from a budget perspective. As a taxpayer in Edgewater he appreciates it. He thinks the concern out there that is expressed tonight is that they have a budget surplus for lack of better terms for $121,000 that they saw last week. They were just advised that they saved another $22,000 on something else. They have a fully, in theory, $1.9 million of a Reserve Fund. The concern he thinks they are hearing is great, they have done good. They got the tax rate lowered. They didn't meet the State mandate but they have $140,000 extra as of tonight and they have $1.9 million and they are having or may have in the future some service issues. As the City Manager and others move forward he thinks that is what needs to be explained to people. They are doing a good job, they are rolling back the tax rate, they are cutting taxes, people are appreciative of that in hard economic times but at the same time if they have some extra dollars why not put it in the areas that count. He wasn't sure where the needs are or how they are ranked. In his theory Fire and Police would be at the top of that chart. If he were budgeting a $140,000 overage in his budget and he knew they had fire trucks that weren't in service because they aren't backfilling those positions he would try to allocate some of those dollars to those positions. He thinks that is the concern from the citizens. Mike Visconti, 316 Pine Breeze Drive, stated he thought they already passed the budget. He made some comments before the budget was passed about united we stand, divided we fall. He said the tax rate wasn't enough to warrant the tax rate. He used himself as an example saving $27 per year. He felt that if they combined all that money together, instead of lowering the taxes, use that $800,000 towards what they are talking about right now and they would have the Fire Department. They would have what is going on right now a shortage of manpower. He feels the thing is done. If they could see their way clear to Page 10 of 13 Council Regular Meeting October 1, 2007 rectify this they should. This should have come up before the budget was passed. Councilman vincenzi stated with the staffing issue. The arrangement with not backfilling overtime is an arrangement between the Fire Chief and the City Manager. They agreed to it. It is a solution. To him it is up to the Fire Chief to come up with other potential solutions as well such as if you need people to plan your year and cover for people on vacation. That is a justifiable expense. He has no problem saying hire somebody if the money is there. The issue came up with overtime that was out of control in the Fire Department for a variety of reasons. One being no having enough people to staff when people call in sick or go on vacation or go on military deploYment or whatever. He said at a previous meeting if they have to call someone in for overtime every time someone calls in sick or goes on vacation, that's not right and that is a sign that something isn't being planned or operate right within that department. The Chief has come forward and talked to the City Manager and come up with a solution. If he needs to hire two people, he needs to come to City Manager Williams and let him know he wants to hire people and what he is going to do with them. Just to call people in as a result of being short staffed, calling them in on overtime, is not right and poor business operation. There are other solutions out there that the Chief has to come forward with. There are other issues within the City within other departments as well such as the Police Department with regard to being short staffed and their equipment being degrading. That is a problem that comes up and it all takes money. When anyone says there is $100,000 extra, there is sort of but not really because they could spend that pretty quick on additional people or new police cars or whatever. Those are things that the department heads have to come forward with. They can't keep taking the easy route by calling someone in when someone calls in sick or not planning properly for someone on vacation. That can't continue and that is where they are. He is open to other solutions and open to spending money to hire people if it is going to serve a purpose. If the purpose is to increase service without increasing cost other than paying the salary for an additional person which should be offset by paying that person and not having to call someone in on overtime. Page 11 of 13 Council Regular Meeting October 1, 2007 Someone in the audience stated that was his first choice. Mr. Lariscy stated that was Option 1. Councilman Vincenzi stated his point is the Chief has to come forward if there is additional still problems in the Fire Department, which he was sure there would be throughout the year, the Chief has to come forward with good solutions and it has to be discussed. Councilwoman Lichter stated although yes it is true for their life police and fire are very important, probably the most. There are other complaints she gets like there is no money to fix roads and that can be a dangerous situation. We might look like for the moment they have extra. One problem really has to be solved and that is the Chief working out the manning of the trucks with the City Manager. The other problem is a department like Jack Corder's took a 40% cut. He's not just recreation. He's a heck of a lot more than that. He is lights and roads and those are important safety factors also, not on quite the same level. The minute they decided and got pressured into putting the total amount of money in the Charter mandated reserve fund that they really haven't had the proper amount of money in for many years however a tough year to do that. When the question was asked of the attorney sitting there is this City breaking the law by not having the right amount of money in that Reserve Fund, can it be sued. Carolyn very quietly said yes. She thinks the die was cast for pulling in that belt even tighter. If money surfaces, it will get directed in the proper order by the department heads. The Chief in a sense is the head of that department and the City Manager. That is their job to work out and see where it is most needed. To have someone say they are endangering their lives, living is endangering her life quite frankly. Sitting up there half the time is endangering her life. Mayor Thomas stated the State mandated them to do something. It wasn't easy and their goal was to not cut any positions. He asked City Manager Williams if they fired anyone over this. City Manager Williams informed him no. Mayor Thomas stated they left some positions open that were open but they did not let anybody go. That was his goal. Yes they are having to tighten their belts and it is hurting a little bit and they need to do the best they can with what they have. If they think bad is here now, bad isn't here yet, bad is coming if they let the tax Page 12 of 13 Council Regular Meeting October 1,2007 referendum go through. They are really going to be seeing some cutting then. Instead of getting ,up and telling the Council to do something where there hands are tied, they need to be talking to their fellow voters not to let that tax referendum go through. He commented on other cities that had to fire people. We didn't fire anybody or let anybody go. The City was at 5.2 and it was the highest. They were cut to the bone already and they wanted to cut some more and they did. They didn't even go to 4.89. They went to 5.2. He again encouraged the people to talk to the voters. Charlie Christ isn't done yet. 12. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, Councilwoman Rogers moved to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 7:47 p.m. Page 13 of 13 Council Regular Meeting October 1,2007