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12-08-2008 - Regular v "\ ~Q CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER REGULAR MEETING DECEMBER 8, 2008 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 Councilwoman Gigi Bennington Councilwoman Harriet Rhodes Councilman Ted Cooper Acting City Manager Tracey Barlow City Clerk Bonnie Wenzel City Attorney Carolyn Ansay Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present INVOCATION, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE There was a silent invocation and pledge of allegiance to the Flag. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES There were no minutes to be approved at this time. 3. PRESENTATIONS/PROCLAMATIONS/PLAQUES/CERTIFICATES/DON ATIONS A. Jo Ann Reams, AARP Tax-Aide Program; introducing residents to the free income tax preparation services provided by AARP Nancy Hack~ey, commented on the AARP Tax-Aide Program. She asked for Council's help in promoting this free service for taxpayers. She then presented a history of AARP Tax-Aide Program, which included how many volunteers have helped, and the amount of people they have helped; their credentials; what they do and can't do; and the people they are here for. She then commented on always looking for Page 1 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 volunteers and the type of people they are looking for. She then commented on the days and locations of where they will be starting on February 2nd. They close on April 15th. She hopes to see a lot of people there taking advantage of their service this year. 4. CITIZEN COMMENTS The following citizens spoke: Domdnic Capri a , 606 Topside Circle, stated audit finance extra cash for some cities, 20 cities overpaid money into the telecommunications. Edgewater was one of them to the tune of $156,000. He asked if they got any of that money back, will they get any of that money back and if they do can they apply it to the shuffleboard courts. They got $200,000 from FEMA for destroying the shuffleboard courts, which he feels they shouldn't have done, which went into the General Fund. He then asked about the Notice of Public Hearing on Ordinance 2008-0-15 Comprehensive Plan. According to the paper they are allowed to go and inspect the documents. He asked if they could request a copy of that, not just inspect. If the answer is no, why not? City Attorney Ansay stated certainly any documents related to any Comp Plan Amendment can be not only inspected but they are public record so they certainly can be copied in accordance with whatever the policy is of the City. The language for that notice comes from the Statute and for whatever reason they just use the word inspect. They are public record and are open for copying. Mr. Capria asked for an answer on the $156,000. Acting City Manager Barlow informed him they have not received the money yet. We will most probably be getting the money. They anticipate they are based on what they know about it. Can it go to the shuffleboard courts? He couldn't answer that due to that being at the direction of Council of what that money goes towards. Mr. Capria stated the fact is, don't forget they got $200,000 which was the direction of Council to build the shuffleboard courts and it went into the General Fund. Council should vote if they have the authority to help the senior citizens with the shuffleboard courts. Acting City Manager Barlow commented on unfortunately having numerous Page 2 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 outstanding grants and projects associated with the 2004 hurricane season. Once they get some of these other projects off the books, they very next priority is to get in there and clean up all the 2004 projects. Mr. Capria stated they would always have those problems. ~ke Visconti, 316 Pine Breeze Drive, asked if the holiday banners were going to be put up. Councilwoman Rhodes informed him they were up. Mr. Visconti then wished the Council, Mayor, City Manager and everybody a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. Ji22 Canady, 321 Sea Hawk Court, Board Member of the Pet Society and Animal Shelter volunteer, asked for help from the Council to expedite a problem they have. For the past 2 ~ years the volunteers have been taking animals to onsites for adoption, mainly to PetSmart in Daytona. She feels they have been pretty successful. Over the last 14 months they have adopted around 200 animals. In the last couple months, of the 65 total animals they have adopted 50 of the animals have been adopted at onsites. Besides getting homes for the animals they have also got the adoption money coming to the City and PetSmart now pays them $10 for every animal they adopt. This year the Pet Society has gotten around $4,000 for adoptions. Last week she got an e-mail from the City saying due to legal and liability problems, they aren't going to be able to take them out of the shelter any longer. They can understand this and they don't want the City to be liable for any accident that may happen but at the same time they want the Council to realize that December is a critical month for them for adoptions. They have around 15 or 20 kittens at the shelter right now and if they are not adopted soon they will become too old to be considered cute. She had three PetSmart people who committed to them to get kittens. If she tells them to come to the shelter in Edgewater to get them, it won't happen. Edgewater is too far away for people to come down here. They have to take their animals to where the people are. Word has gotten around that they are there every weekend and that their animals are healthy and for the most part very well behaved. She would like to ask the Council if they can expedite this problem they have so they can get to PetSmart and get their animals adopted. Acting City Manager Barlow commented on this being an issue that arose last week. There are multiple concerns with the liability. City Attorney Ansay hadn't been brought into Page 3 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 the fold yet due to it happening late last week. One of the other major concerns is they want to address, realign and enhance agreements with the Pet Society as it relates to them receiving money, where those moneys go considering the animals are technically the property of the City of Edgewater. He feels the Pet Society has done some really good things by taking those animals up and getting them adopted at PetSmart. They want to clean everything up and make sure they are covered and recouping the finances associated with those adoptions as well as to make sure City Attorney Ansay sees an agreement. Councilwoman Bennington commented on this being a liability issue with transporting animals in private vehicles. Councilman Cooper commented on wanting to take care of the paper trail issue and then they have a liability issue. If there is no real problem is it possible they can use the City vehicles to deliver the pets for them. Acting City Manager Barlow commented on tracking to make sure the money is accounted for as they are essentially adopting or selling City property. Mayor Thomas felt they needed to give Acting City Manager Barlow some time to roll it over in his brain. He was sure he would figure something out to do. Ms. Canady mentioned her vehicle being used to transport. She then mentioned writing checks to the City two weeks ago for $10,000 for the manufacture of the shelter and that money when the City wants it; it is sitting in a bank account earning interest. The money is not used for anything but the shelter animals. Mayor Thomas informed her somebody would be in contact and they would look into it immediately. Councilwoman Rhodes mentioned it being a time sensitive thing. She asked if they could continue this until they get it sorted out. City Attorney Ansay explained she didn't know who made the legal determination that they can't do it. She didn't know anything about the program or who drives the vehicle. Councilwoman Rhodes would like to allow them to continue doing what they are doing until they finish that process. Page 4 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 Councilwoman Bennington stated at least until the end of the month. Acting City Manager Barlow stated if they give him the opportunity and if he gets the green light, he and City Attorney Ansay can look into it and as long as she is comfortable from a City perspective of what is going on or any fine tune adjustments as they continue to work towards enhancing the agreement considering December is a sensitive time to correct this and they are okay with the decision he and City Attorney Ansay make associated with all the issues that were raised tonight he can certainly make that happen. Councilwoman Rhodes asked Acting City Manager Barlow if he could make it happen in two days. Acting City Manager Barlow didn't know City Attorney Ansay's scheduled but stated if she is around tomorrow or Wednesday, they could get together. Councilwoman Bennington stated for the sake of the pets, if it is just liability transport, she knows there are other issues involved but for right now if they can somehow figure out a way that allows the Pet Society to take the animals up there through this month until they can all the other stuff worked out that would be a great help to the animals, the City and the Pet Society. Acting City manager Barlow agreed to work with City Attorney Ansay. City Attorney Ansay thought they could by the end of this week at the absolute latest, she could look at the legal issues. If it requires some basic form be drafted so that whomever is putting animals in their vehicle and driving them up just needs to sign it, she was sure they could address the legal issues. Councilwoman Rhodes questioned them doing this on the weekend. Ms. Canady informed her they do it on Saturday and Sunday. Councilwoman Rhodes asked if this could be done by Friday. Acting City Manager Barlow thought they could do that. Councilwoman Rhodes felt if they couldn't do it by Friday to go ahead and let them do what they are doing until they get it worked out. That was her suggestion. City Attorney Ansay felt on the legal issues they could get a resolution by Friday. She thought that was only one of the issues. Councilwoman Rhodes felt that was the pressing issue right now. Councilwoman Bennington agreed with Councilwoman Rhodes. She felt they could work the other issues out. The transporting and actually taking Page 5 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 our property off our property is an issue that needs to be addressed. Acting City Manager Barlow assumed the City could be responsible for any animal bites that may occur offsite with our animals. City Attorney Ansay stated there are a whole host of issues. She assumed and hoped there was some sort of agreement with PetSmart. She knows PetSmart does this everywhere. She would like to see whatever written agreement they have. She thought PetSmart has probably done everything it can to absolve itself of liability and shifted it back onto the City. Those are the kinds of things she would like to see before they can make any commitment. Acting City Manager Barlow stated without a doubt it is a great program that just needs some fine- tuning. Councilwoman Rhodes stated for right now they could do it. Acting City Manager Barlow asked her to give them until Friday. Councilwoman Rhodes stated City Attorney Ansay said by Friday they would have something to enable them to do it. City Attorney Ansay stated at the end of the day Council makes the call. She asked if PetSmart has an agreement that says anything that happens the City bears 100% responsibility, do they still want to enable the Pet society to take the animals offsite? Councilwoman Rhodes stated for the month of December yes. City Attorney Ansay informed her the Council could make a decision to take that risk but she wasn't going to do it for them. If that is what the Council is saying they want to do, that is fine. Councilman Cooper suggested they see what it really is first. City Attorney Ansay informed him the Council wouldn't be back until January. Councilwoman Rhodes stated they all know in a court of law PetSmart is never going to be not somewhat liable. She thinks the risk here is relatively low and she thinks for the next couple of weeks if something happens she was wrong. Councilwoman Rogers stated but they are going to come up with something by Friday so if they come across something that is eye opening that they feel would put them at more of a risk by all means they need to contact Ms. Canady and indicate to her what she needs to do. For now leave it status quo. City Attorney Ansay stated she could let them know but they wouldn't be able to act. They aren't going to have a meeting. Page 6 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 Mayor Thomas stated she heard three status quo and he heard Councilman Cooper say to give them until Friday. He guessed the consensus was status quo. Caro~ Ann Stoughton, 2740 Evergreen Drive, thanked Ms. Canady for having to put up with this. All she needs is a little waiver. She is doing a service to this City. As a matter of fact the City isn't doing a service to her or the people who voted for the animal shelter many years ago. She would like to know where that money is, how much money is left and what is going on with that at another time. She feels this woman needs to be commended. PetSmart does this all the time. People today are losing their jobs and are in foreclosure. Volusia School Board is facing $18 million in cuts. The Chrysler dealer has gone out of business and merged with the Chevy dealer. The Tribune has gone out. Things are very bad allover. There are murders and robberies. What do we want to do in Edgewater? We want to add 20,000 houses west of I-95. What a debacle is that? Our Mayor said this is going to be a poster child for the area. This is not a poster child for any area. This is just money for a developer who has suckered them in who has created nothing more than an opportunity for the taxpayers to be paying for roads, schools, more police and more fire. She commented on spending years under Mr. Hooper, months under Mr. Williams and months under Mr. Barlow and this was no offense to Mr. Barlow. Other towns go out and solicit for City Managers. She feels it is time that they have an experienced City Manager running our City. They need more than just developers telling the City Manager and Council what to do. The taxpayers will end up paying for any infrastructure that goes on. Whether they like it or not, this is the census of the people. They think they are all insane. It is not an insult but they say take care of the people here, not the people they don't want here because they can't even provide jobs for the people here. The two boat companies have laid off for December and one is not reopening. She thinks it is time to hire someone with qualifications. She feels Acting City Manager Barlow does an excellent job as the Fire Chief and he is trying to do a good job but they need somebody with experience to help this City out of our debt. Let's get out of debt. Richard Burgess, Vice chairman, ECARD, read a prepared statement. He brought for Council a copy of an excellent editorial in the December 7th edition of the Orlando Page 7 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 Sentinel about "Restoration". He then spoke about City Attorney Ansay contacting ECARD's attorney informing him she had no intention of answering two letters that ECARD wrote to the Council on October 19th and November 25th. They requested that Council direct City Attorney Ansay to respond on their behalf to each of the questions in these letters. They feel it is the Council's duty to be responsive to their constituents' concerns. 5. CITY COUNCIL REPORTS Councilwoman Bennington stated in regards to the Animal Shelter, she and Jack Corder on last Monday or Tuesday went to the Altamonte Springs scratch and dent 70% off sale and they got the animal shelter some really good deals. They got two heavy-duty washing machines, two heavy-duty dryers, and two dishwashers. Of these, she is donating a heavy- duty washing machine and a heavy duty dryer. The total cost including what she is going to have to pay is less than $2,500 to the City. They did really good. She asked if they had been delivered. They were supposed to deliver them Monday. Acting City Manager Barlow didn't know having this been his first day back. Councilwoman Bennington spoke about the Council discussing a lot how much they appreciate the employees and how they would like to be able to do more for them. She suggested they as a Council pitch in and donate the money to give them a Christmas party/luncheon on December 19th out of their own pockets to show their appreciation to the employees. She suggested each Councilmember donate $100 each. Councilman Cooper asked the cost from luncheons they have had in the past at the Fire Station. Councilwoman Bennington confirmed they were $500 at max. She asked if they could do that. The employees are willing to do all the work, which she doesn't feel they should if they will provide the food for them. Councilwoman Rhodes asked City Attorney Ansay if Councilwoman Bennington asked them that in private would that have been a violation of Sunshine. City Attorney Ansay explained the Sunshine Law prohibits them from discussing in private matters that are likely to come before Council. However, her view of the Sunshine law is a very conservative one and she encouraged them to never speak to each other about anything. It's not worth it. It's not worth the risk. It's not worth the accusations or the Council making a judgment call. Technically probably not but she would tell them not do it anyway. Page 8 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 Councilman Cooper asked if they could do what she was suggesting. City Attorney Ansay asked if he was talking about donating money to have a Holiday Party. She would call it a Holiday Party. She didn't know what holiday folks support. She would assume it would not include alcohol. That would only be the real liability type issue. Councilwoman Bennington confirmed there would be no alcohol. Councilman Cooper asked if they are doing anything from the City this year in reference to either giving turkeys or they have also given the following day off after a holiday. Acting City Manager Barlow stated nothing was budgeted as far as that goes. Councilwoman Rhodes felt maybe it would be better to give everybody turkeys or something like that. They have done the Holiday Party in the past and it hasn't gone over real well. Acting City Manager Barlow commented on being successful doing the employee luncheon's on a Friday where they get to come by for lunch. He commented on building camaraderie among the employees because each department dedicates a couple individuals to help plan and prepare it. They enjoy that as much. He feels it really has helped with the work force. It was the consensus of Council to hold the Holiday Party for the employees on December 19th. Councilwoman Rhodes had nothing at this time. Councilman Cooper had nothing at this time. Councilwoman Rogers stated she asked a question two months ago in reference to looking into allowing pet owners to walk their animals in the City parks. There were a couple of residents here that evening and one that came up to Acting City Manager Barlow that is on one of the City Boards. When she brought out and said Manatee Park allows pet owners to bring the dogs into the park and they also have bags for picking up after the animals. He said that park started doing that and allowing that because of the issues going on with the Smyrna Dunes. She has verified that is not so. That park has always been allowed to do Page 9 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 that. Smyrna Dunes is now allowing pet owners to walk their dogs in the park from sunrise to 10:00 a.m. and an hour before sunset. She has met a lot of Edgewater residents because now she is in the parks walking around talking with them. She asked what the status is for Acting City Manager Barlow to find out what they can with their parks. If it isn't something for all parks they should set aside some and there are so many dog owners walking up and down Riverside Drive, she sees plenty of them walking in and out of the parks but they don't have the exposure she does so they aren't getting complaints. Acting City Manager Barlow explained currently Chapter 5 of the Code of Ordinances prohibits any animals in any park. To even change that or identify all parks or any parks would have to come back before Council in the Chapter 5 Ordinance. They are in the process now of working with the Animal Control Board and representatives of the Pet Society in redrafting many enhancements to Chapter 5 Animal Control Ordinance. He was hoping Council would see the ordinance in its entirety before the first of the year. Collectively that is when the Council needs to talk and if they want to allow animals in the parks that would be the time to do it. Councilwoman Rogers asked for a copy of New Smyrna's ordinances as well when they do that and the ordinance regarding the Smyrna Dunes Park. Acting City Manager Barlow stated he spoke to the Town Manager of Ponce Inlet and she wasn't aware of any concerns or cases. He also spoke to Mr. Hagood from New Smyrna Beach and he couldn't remember if they banned for a period, the Dunes Park in new Smyrna but it was very controversial. Councilwoman Rogers stated they did but it started a month ago to allow pet owners to go there in the morning. Acting City Manager Barlow can't make anything happen until Council makes that change in the ordinance. Councilwoman Rogers commented on the letter they received from Leslie Blackner who represents ECARD and the City Attorney did not respond directly to her. The developer's attorneys' did send a letter giving a very lame set of answers or response to that letter. She would like to ask the rest of the Council if they can give direction to City Attorney Ansay to respond to that letter on behalf of the City. That letter has some serious issues brought about in it and nobody has responded. For them to just ignore it Page 10 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 her concern is does this mean the City could be liable for something. Mayor Thomas informed Councilwoman Rogers they would discuss that during City Attorney Ansay's report. He and City Attorney Ansay had already discussed it. Mayor Thomas commented on attending the VCOG and WAV meetings. He further commented on what St. Johns wants to do. They already have water restrictions on the days people can water and they wanted to put that on the reclaimed water too and we have a problem with that because of the time of discharge. We store it up and when it rains people don't water their yards so we wind up discharging into the river. All of the cities were against that. He thought someone notified St. Johns because they had one board member there as well as their rule suggestion maker there. The lady took notes of what they said. There was also an attorney that had been employed by Daytona Beach and some other cities are joining in with him. He showed up and gave a complete report. They are planning on filing a lawsuit. Once they take that water and they use it then it is our water. It isn't St. Johns anymore and they shouldn't have any restrictions. His main concern was spending all this money building the storage facilities and giving the people the opportunity to use reclaimed water and then they want to put restrictions on that too. What would happen is the big charge would go into the Indian River. His goal is to have zero discharge into the Indian River. The Indian River is a very delicate estuary. When they put in too much fresh water they imbalance the estuary. He thought they got the point from the letters he has been reading and he thought they took that part of the rule out. City Attorney Ansay stated they have removed the reclaimed water portion from their rule however the rest of the rule which is a comprehensive irrigation rule that has restrictions on everyone's use of potable water for irrigation will move forward. Mayor Thomas stated the other day Sergeant Dave Arcieri called him up to see if he was available to sign a grant and he came to his house and he saw he had the Ford Explorer. He has been seeing signs going into one of their new subdivisions south of here and it has been bothering him because there was too much vehicle traffic going in Page 11 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 there. He asked him if they could go down there and look at that. They found one place where they were partying, drinking beer and shooting guns. They found two or three places where they are dumping beds and refrigerators and all kinds of stuff. They followed a fresh sign and found a gentleman camped out. He thinks that they need to notify Mr. Evans that there is somebody living on his property and dumping on his property and that he needs to fix the fence where they cannot be utilizing that property. 6. CONSENT AGENDA There were no items to be discussed on the Consent Agenda at this time. 7. PUBLIC HEARINGS, ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS A. 2nd Reading, Ordinance No. 2008-0-14, Amendment to the Comprehensive Plan to update the Capital Improvements Element (CIE) and the accompanying Capital Improvement Program (CIP) City Attorney Ansay read Ord. 2008-0-14 into the record. Acting City Manager Barlow made a staff presentation. Mayor Thomas opened the public hearing. The following citizens spoke: Bi~~ G~aser, 1703 Needle Palm Drive, stated he was perusing the document and he noticed in the Capital Improvement Program there was a line item for a 2 ~ million gallon per day wastewater treatment plant. Under the Capital Improvement Program they are showing the funding sources. They have transfer from Water Development and Sewer Development. He was wondering where those moneys corne from. Acting City Manager Barlow stated those improvements would be collected from impact fees as it results from previous new development and future new development. Mr. Glaser stated there is also an item that says Proprietary Appropriations. He asked if those are appropriations they aren't supposed to know about. Page 12 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 Finance Director John McKinney stated all that means is the fact that the Enterprise Funds are Proprietary Funds. That is based on future expansion. If the Sewer and Water Development Funds that are received from development, if there isn't enough money to fund that program there would be a transfer from the Proprietary Fund, Water/Sewer, into 444. If there is $100,000 that is not used in operations, that $100,000 could be set aside as part of the budget and transferred to 444 for the construction towards those facilities. Acting City Manager Barlow pointed out that would have to be identified in the budget during that budget year and approved by Council. Finance Director McKinney stated the first three years of the first five years had to be budgeted. Anything up to that he had to provide a funding source. He could have put debt proceeds but because when he worked with Brenda and Darren's staff they just don't know yet so that was an allowable means of a funding source so they put Proprietary Transfer. Acting City Manager Barlow stated this is a five-year plan and is not a commitment that those capital improvement projects or purchases have to occur if they aren't budgeted within that budget year of the five-year plan. They had to disclose what they anticipate the future will bring. Mr. Glaser asked where that Wastewater Treatment Plant would be built. Acting City Manager Barlow explained they could either expand the current Plant depending on the need at the time they need more concurrency or they could locate a satellite plant, a second plant somewhere near, whether it is south of 1-95 or south of Volco Road. It depends on where the need is. Caro~ Ann Stoughton, 2740 Evergreen Drive, asked if any of this is going to cost the current taxpayers taxes to go up or any possibility that this is to provide for Restoration. It has been quoted by them that CIE and CIP will be taking care of their needs out there. They aren't going to pay for it. She wanted to know if this had anything to do with future development west of 1-95. She thinks this is really what it is about. Acting City Manager Barlow informed her this has to do with any future development. Ms. Stoughton feels the taxpayers should know that this amendment to the Comprehensive Plan is going to cost the Page 13 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 citizens and existing taxpayers money for a developer who profits. Acting City Manager Barlow stated if they never built another house in Edgewater they would still have to do this Amendment. Mayor Thomas closed the public hearing and entertained a motion. Counci~woman Rhodes moved to approve Ord. 2008-0-14, Amendment to the Comprehensive P~an to update the Capita~ Improvements E~ement (CIE) and the accompanying Capita~ Improvement Program (CIP), second by Counci~ Cooper. The MOTION CARRIED 5-0. B. Jason Gambone, I.C.O. Seagate Homes, requesting a revision to the existing Planned Unit Development (PUD) Agreement for the Edgewater Lakes development Development Services Director Darren Lear made a staff presentation. He went over the seven proposed revisions. Staff recommended approval for the first six revisions. Staff recommended denial of the proposal to create additional lots less than seventy-five feet in width. Councilwoman Rhodes stated they weren't adding any more homes. Mr. Lear confirmed the total was not changing. Councilwoman Rhodes stated all they are doing is reconfiguring inside what they have available to them and this is a low-density project. She didn't have a problem with that. She stated according to what they got from City Attorney Ansay the 75-foot lot change in the Land Development Code can be enforced or they could not enforce it. City Attorney Ansay stated this is a unique project because this was a subject of a vested rights application where Council granted vested rights. The e-mail in the agenda packet discusses things as it relates to things in the agreement that are not going to change. Certainly they are vested and they exist. The problem they have is that Council, one of the amendments to the LDC that Council made was to specifically restrict lots 75 feet or less in PUD's. The problem staff has is to make any changes to the lot Page 14 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 sizes in the PUD raises questions of whether or not that is vested. She thinks it is vested if they don't tweak those things but here they are taking some away but are giving some more. The overall numbers aren't the problem. It's just a matter of they are now saying they are going to allow them additional 60' lots but then they are taking away some of the 70' lots. Overall it is just shifting them around but she didn't know that staff could recommend allowing the developer to add more 50' lots. The LDC says nobody can because the fact of the matter is, most cities for RPUD's don't have a specific minimum lot size. That is the beauty of a RPUD. They should have the flexibility. If the developer has a good plan and wants to have 60' lots and they think it is a good thing, under a normal RPUD ordinance they would have that flexibility. For whatever reason Council in the past decided to put that restriction in and now it has caught this particular project and the particular circumstances they are in are a little bit different. Councilwoman Rhodes thought what City Attorney Ansay had said was no matter which way Council goes on this decision, there is not a wrong way to go as far as the 75' lots. City Attorney Ansay stated the Code provides that they are vested from a lot of things but the 75' lot issue is one that is challenging. If this Council decides as a matter of policy that they think it is close enough and meets the intent of the Code, she doesn't personally have a problem with that. She thinks staff is in a position where they didn't want to make that call. Councilwoman Rhodes stated she was talking about legally. Legally they could go either way on this depending on their feelings on the subject and not be subject to a lawsuit. City Attorney Ansay stated if there was someone up there whose so sole goal in life was to ensure Edgewater didn't have lots under 75' she felt they would have a very good argument that the developer is vested for those lots under 75' that they have already given them but once they start tweaking that formula he loses his vesting status and has to comply with the Code as it exists today. She thinks there isn't a lot of law on this. The bottom line is when someone applies for an amendment to an agreement the law as it relates to that specific term that are in place today really apply. Councilwoman Rhodes wanted her to tell her it was okay. City Attorney Ansay informed her from a legal perspective she couldn't. She commented on comparing the square footage, the total linear feet of width of lots that he had Page 15 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 under his original agreement with what he is proposing, if it didn't have a market decrease, she feels they would have a very good argument that what they have done doesn't violate the intent of the Code. Councilwoman Bennington stated anybody could sue them for anything no matter what they do. It is up to Council to decide whether they want to allow this and let the developer take the chance of a suit that may hold up his development or they can just do it or not do it. City Attorney Ansay stated this isn't something they are going out on a huge limb if they do. They have a PUD agreement and are vested and are giving a lot up. Councilwoman Rhodes looks at them as being vested. She sees the intent of this project and knows what the intent was when the project was first started. That intent was to have 328 homes. How they do it within the 196 acres shouldn't be an issue. She referred to Coral Trace wanting to add 12 homes. They aren't adding any more impact onto the City. All they are doing is the puzzle looks different than it did before. Councilwoman Rogers stated the argument she is hearing and what she understands from the attorney is that this developer had vested rights and was allowed to develop and build with these smaller lot sizes. Now he wants them to tweak it a bit and the same non-pervious surface square footage amount will be the same but will have a different composition. If they allow him to tweak it then his vested rights are out the window and they are now back to the existing Land Development Code. He is better off for Council to leave it as it is. If they start tweaking this then he is putting at risk those lots that are already vested. If they start tweaking it then they are changing the whole scheme of things. It is almost going to be moot and back to ground zero. City Attorney Ansay stated the law does not provide that he loses his vesting status overall if the agreement is amended. If there is a specific term that is changed in the LDC, such as lot sizes that he is vested from, if that remains the same he is okay. If he wanted to come in now and have all of his homes be 50' lots, she thinks the argument would clearly be that is the provision he is vested from and is a market change in what he originally has been vested from and the rules today apply. In fairness to the developer, she didn't think that was what Page 16 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 the developer was seeking to do. What they are essentially trying to do is increase the number of 60' lots and decrease the number of 70' lots. She thinks their argument would be either way they have the same number of lots that are less than 75'. Staff might view it as they are giving them more lots that are even smaller. Councilwoman Rogers expressed concern with doing this and it setting a precedent. She feels they need to say exactly what staff is recommending. Councilwoman Rhodes pointed out that each PUD is individual. Anybody can come down the pike and say anything they want. That doesn't mean they get it. If this included adding more homes, she would be totally against it. As far as reconfiguring it, she doesn't have a problem with it. Councilman Cooper stated as this was written and as the PUD was approved and Mr. Lear said it came back for an amendment before. He had that right to come back to request an amendment. He asked City Attorney Ansay if he still has that right. City Attorney Ansay informed him he did. Councilman Cooper stated they approved vested rights which meant they honored the way it was written previously and under those vested rights the other plan with determining 75' lots was not there yet. City Attorney Ansay confirmed that was right. Councilman Cooper stated so he still has the right to come to Council with an amendment over a PUD that was approved with vested rights. City Attorney Ansay stated if the subject of the amendment is something that changed in the Code the new change is no longer vested. She further commented on pushing the limits of what was vested. Council has the authority to do it but she feels that is the discomfort staff had because they couldn't recommend and they don't have the power to do it because they believe it is in violation of the Code, the law and vested rights. Councilman Cooper stated the Code as it stands today not how it was when this was written. City Attorney Ansay stated correct but and the law that would apply to vested rights. Councilman Cooper asked Jason Gambone to explain his reasoning for wanting to resize some of the existing lots. Jason Gambone, representing Seagate Companies, explained their motivation is pretty simple. All legalistic issues Page 17 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 aside. They are trying to add a .8 acre Amenity Center to improve the neighborhood for the residents. The PUD as it is currently approved has no Amenity Center in it at all. He pointed out on the plans where they would like to place the Amenity Center. He commented taking out six lots and adding the Amenity Center. He also commented on changing the 70' lots to 60' lots to make up for lots they lost. They didn't feel it was something that would be consequential. He mentioned to City Attorney Ansay and staff prior to the meeting that if it made them feel better they could change some of the 70' lots to 80' lots and then they would have the exact same number of 80' lots in the new PUD as they would in the current PUD. The number of lots under 75' doesn't have to change at all. Councilman Cooper stated as Mr. Gambone talks about the Amenity Center, this is an entire enhancement for that entire community. He stated if he were to live there, they just made his life a lot easier, which is what their intent was. Mr. Gambone stated the legal issues are beyond his grasp. He doesn't really quite understand all of the ideas about vesting. They are trying to improve the community. It helps them to go from the three-phase project to the four- phase project because they can make the next phase a little smaller, which means they can probably get to it more quickly. They thought overall the changes would help them with the project. Councilman Cooper confirmed the documentation he presented was an affirmation of the residents that own homes in Edgewater Lakes now. Mr. Gambone estimated 20 people came out to the meeting they had in September. No one opposed and they were all in support. All legal technical issues aside he thinks they can address the legal issues by changing out a couple of lots to 80 feet. Councilman Cooper asked Mr. Gambone if his overall cost to do what is proposed would be higher or lower. Mr. Gambone felt it would be a little higher because of the Amenity Center. He commented on the three homes they have in their Model Center at Edgewater Lakes. They are all designed to be on 50' wide lots. They have found that many of their customers like that home and home style but they wanted a little bit more room side to side which he feels is reflected in some of the direction that Council has wanted Page 18 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 to go in towards larger lots. They can take the homes that are designed for the 50' lots and put them on 60' lots. He feels it helps deliver the product that their potential residents are seeking. Councilman Cooper asked him to speak about the overall value of the properties if this were to be approved and if it would be higher or less. We are in an economy where homes are losing value. Mr. Gambone feels it will help. It is not their goal to build something that is going to go down in value. They are a for profit company and hope to build something that is going to be successful in the market place and add to the City's tax base. If it costs them a little more money to do that, they are willing to do that. Councilman Cooper summarized that the enhancement they are proposing will increase the value of their homes, make it more sustainable and will help them with marketing. It's a win-win for the homeowner. Mr. Gambone added it is good for the residents and good for them as a developer which in turn means it is good for the City. Councilman Cooper stated the 60' lots and that is the majority that is being changed or being added, the cost of doing the homes does it change at all to the builder. Mr. Gambone commented on the construction cost per square foot being roughly the same. Councilman Cooper stated so there is no gain or loss to the particular individual lots. Mr. Gambone stated they are at 328. That was done by design and they aren't trying to do anything that is jeopardizing vesting or anything. They are just trying to improve the project. Councilwoman Rogers questioned Mr. Gambone commenting on infrastructure going down from $2 million to $1 million but yet they are increasing the amenities. Mr. Gambone informed her it would be reduced by $1 million just for the next phase. He informed her that phase one was complete and commented on proposing what the second phase would be. Councilwoman Rogers asked how many lots were sold. Mr. Gambone believed about 30. Councilwoman Rogers asked how many lots there were total. Mr. Gambone informed her 97. Councilwoman Rogers stated this would help them get on with these other phases. Mr. Gambone pointed out in the current Page 19 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 plan what the second phase includes. If they have to build all of the infrastructure, it adds to their cost and they have a lot of vacant lots that aren't good for anyone. The overall infrastructure costs are the same regardless. Councilwoman Rogers stated her big things is as long as it is helping them to get a long further and this has already been approved up to this point, if it helps them get a long further so they can get to the end sooner. Acting City Manager Barlow stated currently with the existing PUD he has 269 committed lots under the 75' lot width. He has come before them and he wants 273 lots below the 75' width, which are four additional lots. He has offered as a concession to trade that out and add those four lots back to the 80' lots which would bring the lots under 75' back down to 269 as originally stated in the PUD and the lots over 75' back up to the 59. He asked Council to take that into consideration when they make their motion. Mayor Thomas entertained a motion. Counci~ woman Rhodes moved to approve the amendment to the RPUD wi th the ~ot exchange tha t Acting Ci ty Manager Bar~ow just mentioned, second by Counci~woman Rogers. The MOTION CARRIED 5-0. Mayor Thomas called a ten-minute recess at this time. The meeting recessed at 8:20 p.m. and reconvened at 8:30 p.m. 8. BOARD APPOINTMENTS A. Recreation/Cultural Services Board - Mayor's appointment due to the expired term of Thomas Tipton, who seeks reappointment Mayor Thomas nominated Thomas Tipton to be reappointed to the Recreation/Cultural Services Board. Counci~woman Rhodes moved to accept Mayor Thomas' nomdnation to reappoint Thomas Tipton, second by Counci~ Cooper. The MOTION CARRIED 5-0. Page 20 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 B. Recreation/Cultural Services Board - Councilwoman Rogers' appointment due to the expired term of Michael Visconti, who seeks reappointment Councilwoman Rogers nominated Michael Visconti to be reappointed to the Recreation/Cultural Services Board due to his wonderful service and his dedication at all of the Council meetings he comes to. Councilman Cooper said he is a genuinely nice guy. Councilwoman Rogers stated he is the City mascot. Counci~woman Bennington moved to accept Counci~woman Rogers' nomination to reappoint Michae~ Visconti, second by Counci~ Cooper. The MOTION CARRIED 5-0. 9. OTHER BUSINESS A. Central Florida Sustainable Communities Initiative (CFSCI) presenting the final Community Vision Book Acting City Manager Barlow made a staff presentation regarding the visioning process they went through. At the October 20, 2008 Council meeting the Council received a presentation regarding the draft form of the findings and the Council made comments and they have taken those and put them in the book. He has found one area he has recommended correction as it relates to street addressing. Tonight he would like the Council to talk about any final revisions they would like to make. Greg Witherspoon, Canin & Associates, made a Powerpoint presentation highlighting some of the results included in the final Community Vision Book as a result of the two Visioning Workshops. Councilman Cooper thanked them for their time and efforts. It didn't cost the City a dime. He couldn't compliment them enough for doing this for them. He wished they had the money to start doing it in phases like they suggested. He felt they needed to jump on Parks and Recreation as priority one. Priority two if they can make any recommendations he would love to see Riverside Drive start the look. He felt it would be good to have a workshop to start formulating how they want to break the phases out and Page 21 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 then start looking for grant money so they can relieve some of the taxpayers' burden and yet make it a City people want to come to. All of this gives them opportunity. Whether they use it or not is totally up to them. Councilwoman Bennington wanted to thank them too. She feels it is a terrific idea. They need a vision of where they want to go. Had they had this twenty years ago, Edgewater would look totally different now. She expressed her appreciation for the time and effort they have put into this. Mr. Witherspoon stated on behalf of everybody at Canin & Associates it has been their pleasure. They value this type of work. To have a community that can look forward and recognize they need a vision and allow them the opportunity to come in and join them and their citizens to really have fun. It is their pleasure. Councilwoman Rhodes stated she appreciated the fact that they were faithful to what happened in those workshops. There is nothing that the people that attended those workshops that they did not want. They didn't put their own stuff in there. She appreciated that they were faithful to their vision. She thanked them. Mayor Thomas also thanked them for their team's effort and their time. He thinks they did a very good job. A vision is like a dream and they may not be able to afford that big motorcycle but they may be able to afford a little motorcycle. He thanked them very much. Councilwoman Rogers stated so what they have done is they aren't approving anything, they are just having him present the Vision Book based upon those two workshops. Councilwoman Rhodes believed they were approving the vision. Councilwoman Rogers stated as far as approving the vision, in a sense it is premature because of the issues with the water and the transportation. When she looks at this it is a dream, it's a vision. How do they get there? That has not been determined. There are so many variables. She asked Acting City Manager Barlow what the next step was as far as direction from him. How are they going to get there with all of these other hurdles that are in front of them right now. She commented on issues with the City of New Smyrna Beach. She spoke of having serious issues with transportation and water. Page 22 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 Acting City Manager Barlow stated he didn't know that it was confirmed other than to say a concern of New Smyrna Beach that we have a transportation and water issue. Where they go from tonight is if the Council by consensus adopts and says yes they think this is the vision of the City of Edgewater and they give staff direction, where staff would go from here is they would look at an opportunity to start doing Land Development Code changes as it relates to overlay districts that will give some design standards. He then spoke of looking for grants to help support some of the initiatives in the Vision Book. He also spoke of doing research on the ability to do a CRA or a Community Business District, the pros and cons with that. They start researching that and creating districts that can help fund these overlay areas. There are multiple areas they can do that won't impact them financially in a negative sense in preparation for a turn of the economy and when development starts coming here. Councilwoman Rogers stated it sounds like in approving this Vision they are going to have someone from the Economic Development Board and another individual get educated on how they could apply grants so they can start getting their Parks and Recs up to the standard in the Vision Book. By getting themselves educated to help the City, they aren't spending City money to improve these parks in helping with that Vision. She doesn't see where they are locking themselves into anything west of 1-95. Right now they are approving what they already have here and that will help the residents here but it won't bring in the tax dollars they so much need. Mr. Witherspoon pointed out the Florida Redevelopment Agency has a service that the city can apply for a consultation from the Statewide entity. That is actually the vehicle that many communities have chosen to start to create the tax base to put towards future infrastructure needs. It is done allover the State. He thought the State had 200 community redevelopment agencies in place right now. It is a free service that they can engage them as a City to get consultation on on how to implement some of these techniques and tools. Councilwoman Rogers was wondering if that would just be Park Avenue or where the CRA would be. This is a vision but it sounds to her that if this gets approved tonight Page 23 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 they are going to start into the Land Development Code changes and overlays. Whatever they do tonight will set the course of the next events and that will be for the Council approving things that they have already approved somewhat within this. This is very broad. It's not specific. Mr. Witherspoon informed her it is meant to be broad. He commented on the boundaries for the CRA having to be determined by the City. That has not been determined. There is specific legal language and procedures that need to be followed before that can be implemented. It is a lengthy process. He then commented on there being an opportunity to do Code revisions prior to implementing a CRA and things of that nature. He would be hesitant to piecemeal the Code together in that fashion but it is possible. Councilwoman Rogers was concerned with this being so broad as Council they aren't locking themselves into anything if down the road they don't want to approve this overlay or that overlay. Acting City Manager Barlow stated take this as a spirit of the direction that the community of the City of Edgewater that participated in the process think they want in the next 20 years. Councilwoman Rogers stated if they don't discuss it openly and talk about it it's not going to get reported and won't be on the public record. What they may assume they are trying to represent the citizens and they have to put it out there so they know clearly what is being said. Let's make it so basic and simple so people can understand what they are doing. Mayor Thomas stated they already have a plan already being in effect with the Park & Pier. The vision was they didn't want a boat launch there. If he votes for this, will it push the old plan of the boat ramp/boat launch away? Acting City Manager Barlow stated they already have the grant money and it has been approved. They are working through that process. They hope to start the renovations they have seen by the first of the year. They are required by the Comp Plan to have so many boat launches and so much boat parking. Let's say this is a 20-year vision. Let's say in 8 or 10 years from now they have an opportunity for a grant to buy a piece of property or assume a marina and the Council elects to move the boat ramp and parking operations with the grant money and redevelop Kennedy Park into this vision. It's not locking in that they can't continue. They have to continue with the enhancements to the Park & Pier. Page 24 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 Councilwoman Bennington asked if they had to vote on this. Acting City Manager Barlow informed her from a staff perspective he would like to at least get consensus. They need to give staff spirit of direction of what they like. Councilwoman Bennington asked if wouldn't just them accepting it and complimenting them and saying they appreciate it and saying they agree with it, isn't that saying the same thing. Councilwoman Rhodes referred to the goal information Acting City Manager Barlow wanted to discuss under his report with regard to CRA's. That is something they can begin working on. It will take a long time but it doesn't cost them anything to do that. They make many decisions and staff makes many more than they do. If they make the decision based upon their future then they don't do anything now that they will have to undo then and cost more money later on down the road. She was at both workshops. She heard the people that were there. This is what they said and what they wanted and she has no problem adopting this as a vision for Edgewater. It may be modified along the way and that is fine but at least they have a direction in which to go. Acting City Manager Barlow stated every little change that becomes policy through Land Development Codes comes back to Council for final approval. 10. OFFICER REPORTS A. City Clerk City Clerk Wenzel had nothing at this time. B. City Attorney City Attorney Ansay presented an update on DEC action west of 1-95 that had to do with the ballot measure related to lands west of 1-95. That was in Appellate courts but after the election they fully expected it to go away. ECARD had filed an appeal and then the landowners had filed an appeal. At this point ECARD and the landowners have dismissed their appeals so that is the end of that one. Hopefully no more expense to be paid on that issue. City Attorney Ansay commented on the letter prepared by Ms. Blacker directed to Council that was dated November 28, Page 25 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 2008. Previously a letter had been directed to Council about issues related to Restoration and Hammock Creek Green. After the first letter Council asked her to look at some of the issues and provide some basic information back to Council. She did that in the form of a memorandum that Council and Ms. Blackner received. She made some phone calls and looked at some documents and did some basic reviewing of the issues and provided a response to Council. That memo was received by Council and now they have a second letter. She clarified she did speak with Ms. Blackner and she did not say she was not going to respond. She said she would talk to Council about the letter Ms. Blackner sent and ask them what their desire was in terms of responding to the letter. The only issue she didn't really fully fair out in the first letter was the issue that was raised as it relates to the Mayor. She pointed out she felt a little uncomfortable having a conversation with the Mayor and putting it in a memorandum that is outside of the Sunshine Law and distributing it to Council because they get themselves into a conduit situation. That was the only issue she didn't have a response to. From her perspective they now have another letter from Ms. Blackner. She needed direction from Council on how to proceed. Mayor Thomas stated City Clerk Wenzel notified him of the second letter and he immediately went to pick it up. It was the first of last week and he was concerned because there were some serious allegations about himself in there. He contacted City Attorney Ansay and they talked. They demanded answers in writing within a week. He said who are they. He asked the question before how many members are there. Is it 5 members, 50 members or 500 members? He doesn't have any problems answering these questions. The first question was "Has Mayor Thomas previously or has he now had access to the Restoration property for activities of the Miami Tract Hunt Club which he operates." Mayor Thomas stated the answer is no, definitely not. He leases 52,000 acres from the Miami Corporation. Why would he want to lease another 5,000 acres? He has done quality deer management and is very happy on that. They can do some research on there. He has to apply for permits for his Hunt Club and he has to send a detailed property map. None of it is on Restoration. It is all on the Miami Corporation land. Mayor Thomas stated the second question was "ECARD members observed the Mayor in appearance at County and municipal Page 26 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 meetings and is enthusiastically promoting the Restoration project. If he has led anybody to believe that he is promoting this project, it is totally false. He has been their biggest critic. From day one he has had meetings with them. When he came to see Mayor Thomas at first he showed him the first draft and there were houses spread out over the 5,000 acres everywhere and he said definitely not. He knows the problems it would cause. They came back several months later with another recommendation. He told them that wouldn't work either. Their recommendation was to build on roughly 2,000 acres and leave 3,700 green. He said if they have to do this, this would be the best way to go because they are leaving 3,700 acres of green. They take for granted that the air we breathe everyday is cleaned by the trees. They are going to leave so much property for their drainage to go naturally. They are going to leave 3,700 acres for wildlife. If they are going to do the project, the last way he saw was the best way. He serves on the Smart Growth Committee and has tried to learn the principles of smart growth. They have looked at communities allover the State and this is one of the best he has seen from allover the State comparing it to other communities. If he has led anybody to believe that he was promoting the project that is typically false. Councilwoman Rhodes stated if he did enthusiastically endorse Restoration would that be a problem. City Attorney Ansay informed her it would not. Mayor Thomas stated the third was "Does he receive any other form or benefit or paid pro quo from Restoration, Hammock Green or any of its associates." The answer is no. He hasn't accepted anything from them. Mayor Thomas stated these are serious allegations. If they had any proof they would already be to the Ethics Commission in Tallahassee and he would have to resign. They don't have any proof. He feels this is terrible. His answer to all of those accusations is no, no, no. If they have proof let's see it. Put your money where your mouth is. If they want to talk about the issues, transportation, schools or the drainage issues or the real issues let's talk about it. Quit taking pot shots. Quit being unscrupulous. Councilwoman Bennington stated they are being bombarded all the time about how much money they waste on things. She Page 27 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 thinks if they direct the City Attorney to spend any more time investigating and answering those questions other than the way she has answered then they aren't being good stewards of the City. Mayor Thomas stated they talk about wasting money, they are wasting money on Ms. Blackner. They are bleeding us to death on nothing. If they have an issue, let's talk about it. Councilwoman Rhodes stated if they have proof but she isn't wasting the Attorney's time and money to throw a bunch of crap at the wall and see what sticks. Councilman Cooper agreed with the consensus of the Council. False accusations, innuendos, anything to get press coverage but it doesn't address any of the issues on the project that they are talking about. They can't be any more public. It is a tremendous waste of time, money and effort. He spoke of discouraging any good people stepping forward to ever run for office if they are going to make false accusations and innuendos about the people that are trying to do the good steward job of running the City. Everything is an open book. It is public record. Don't make accusations when you can make a phone call and find out. He doesn't believe they need to waste ay more time or money. C. City Manager Acting City Manager Barlow informed Council he needed to schedule an Executive Session to discuss the Tripp v. the City of Edgewater lawsuit that they are in mediation with today. He would like to do January 5th at 6:00 p.m. Acting City Manager Barlow stated he might advertise it with an opportunity to discuss the Doe v. City of Edgewater case as well. City Attorney Ansay stated that goes to mediation on Thursday. Just on the off chance there is an issue that arises perhaps they advertise it. Her guess is they won't need to and will provide an update at the next Council meeting. Acting City Manager Barlow went over the draft version of major accomplishments that were accomplished in 2008 as well as goals for 2009. He asked Council if they had any additions or deletions that now would be the time to communicate them. Page 28 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 I . Councilwoman Rhodes again mentioned the CRA district. There was at one time the Mango Lake park area to be made into a dog park. Acting City Manager Barlow commented on it being on the list as consider Mango Lake as a park and begin design planning. Councilwoman Rhodes asked him to make it a dog park. Acting City Manager Barlow commented on talking about an opportunity across the street from there and the Mango Lake property being a fitness park. Councilwoman Bennington also stated she wants a dog park. Councilman Cooper asked if he would rather have them respond to him in detail and give them everything in writing. Acting City Manager Barlow informed him that would help before January 1st. Councilwoman Rhodes wanted the public to be aware that the outside of City Hall is going to be refurbished. Acting City Manager Barlow stated currently they are doing the inside of City Hall this year and it was budgeted. They are going to do some required maintenance on some of the drip edge and fascia and they are going to paint all of these facilities and are getting ready to paint the detective's building which was never painted and that was the root of some of their leaks in there is it was never sealed. That project is already in the plans. Next year they are going to look to bring back to Council through the budgetary process some additional aesthetic enhancements to the outside of City Hall. Acting City Manager Barlow commented on the inside of City Hall coming along extremely well. They hope to have everything complete and back in operation by January 20th. They accomplished a lot of goals with that as far as enhancing the ADA accessibility around city Hal. They have been able to insulate areas that have never been insulated before which will increase the energy efficiencies there. They are doing some required rewiring which has been problematic for some time. They are increasing the functionality of City Hall and also adding a security system. Councilwoman Bennington mentioned Acting City Manager Barlow not having anything on the accomplishments list about opening the new Animal Shelter. She heard Acting City Manager Barlow took some of the people that were working on the shelter to do the interior of City Hall so now they are behind at the Shelter. Page 29 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 Councilman Cooper stated when City Hall is complete, could they host an open house for the citizens to come down and look and see where some of their money goes and how it really needed to be done before they could be a much for functional City Hall. Acting City Manager Barlow stated he would and felt that was a great idea if Council was agreeable to it. He would do it an hour before a Council meeting and he would have staff available as well to give tours. Acting City Manager Barlow stated through their negotiations and their price quotes, timing wise they got some really good deals on labor rates and products. A majority if not all of the labor and the workforce have been generated from contractors in the Edgewater area. They will be able to keep those funds here as well. Councilwoman Bennington commented on going to the shelter last week and the plumber, the framers, and the electricians were all from Edgewater and they were allover the place. Councilwoman Rhodes stated that should be their priority. Councilman Cooper stated they should always try to do that. Councilman Cooper stated obviously they have had an election and are about to have a President inaugurated. Right now with what they looked at as far as visioning, if they see the area of Park Avenue and U.S. #1 that they talked about in the visioning plan, all of those properties are up for sale right now. He requested if grant money, bond money, City improvement money is available at all he would like them not to blow it and miss a deadline. We don't have any money to buy any of those properties to plan ahead but if something becomes available he doesn't want to miss it. Acting City Manager Barlow commented on budgeting money to purchase the house beside the Police Department to allow some additional expansion. They are also working with the County on the Neighborhood Stabilization Program as it relates to the whole City and some grant dollars that may be available to stabilize some of those areas. He commented on working with the Florida League of Cities and establishing a list of those infrastructure projects or public projects that can be underway within a 120 day period by chance the $500 billion stimulus project comes along and is filtered through the government. They are putting everything in line so when timing is there. He again mentioned staff and Mr. McIntosh from the Economic Page 30 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 Development Board attending the grant-writing workshop so they will have a couple individuals on staff to get them trained to write grants. Councilwoman Rhodes stated if anybody can do it Bob could do it. Acting City Manager Barlow commented on Mr. McIntosh assisting him with the Disaster Recovery Plan. Councilwoman Bennington commented on Acting City Manager Barlow being Acting City Manager for about a year. She feels he is as professional as they can get and she appreciates the work he has done. Councilwoman Rhodes agreed. Acting City Manager Barlow commented on hiring a full time City Manager being one of the goals for 2009 and he informed Council he would be looking for direction on that. Councilwoman Rhodes stated she would challenge anybody to find any city ran better. Acting City Manager Barlow commented on having a wonderful staff as a resource and it being a team effort. Councilwoman Rhodes stated they could run it cheaper but maybe not better. Acting City Manager Barlow then commented on the new enhanced City seal. He pointed out the differences between the three City seals that they have narrowed down. After some discussion, it was the consensus of Council to go with #3 but remove the clouds and use the palm trees on #2. 11. CITIZEN COMMENTS The following citizens spoke: ~ke Visconti, 316 Pine Breeze Drive, stated vision of Edgewater. He guessed Dorothy was going to find Emerald City in the near future in Edgewater. It looks like it is going to be a long process. He is at the age where he doesn't think he will be here at that time. He assured Council if he was here he would visit Emerald City in Edgewater. He knows it takes time and effort. He encouraged them to be optimistic. See that glass always half full and the dreams will come true. Bi~~ G~aser, 1703 Needle Palm Drive, commented on the garage sale signs he sees that folks put up on utility poles that they leave there after they have had their sale. He feels they aren't making Edgewater pretty with all of the garbage hanging on the poles. He was wondering if Page 31 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008 Council would entertain a way to earn a few extra bucks by collecting a $15 or $20 sign fee when a garage sale permit is issued with a stipulation that if they don't get remove their sign by a certain time then the City collects the fee and an employee goes and takes down the sign. He also asked that the City employee remove the screws and nails on some of the poles. Councilwoman Rhodes and Councilwoman Bennington felt that was a good idea. 12 . ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, Councilwoman Rhodes moved to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 9:27 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Lisa Bloomer Page 32 of 32 Council Regular Meeting December 8, 2008