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08-01-2005 - Regular ...... y CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER REGULAR MEETING AUGUST 1, 2005 7:00 P.M. COMMUNITY CENTER MINUTES 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Schmidt called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Center. ROLL CALL Mayor Donald Schmidt Councilman James Brown Councilman Dennis Vincenzi Councilwoman Harriet Rhodes Councilwoman Judith Lichter City Manager Kenneth Hooper City Clerk Susan Wadsworth Paralegal Robin Matusick 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/DONATIONS There were no presentations at this time. 4. CITIZEN COMMENTS The following citizen spoke: Dominic Ca pri a , 606 Topside Circle, stated he had a problem with water. He called up the City and the guy was there within ten minutes. He helped him and he felt he did a very good job. He failed to get the gentleman's name. '-' ...." 5. CITY COUNCIL REPORTS Councilman Brown stated they got to go on an informative trip through the Indian River Lagoon with Dorothy Hukill and some people from Mosquito Control. He didn't know that part of the mosquito control system in our islands were done in the 1860's. They are redoing a lot of this stuff to prevent mosquitoes. He was really impressed with what the County and state people are doing to try and preserve and protect the islands. Councilman Vincenzi had nothing at this time. Councilwoman Rhodes had nothing at this time. Councilwoman Lichter commented on the changing of the Commander at the Coast Guard. They were very thankful that Edgewater came and said a few words about their service to us. The other two cities in Southeast Volusia did not show up. Councilwoman Lichter feels they need to put something in the newsletter about homeowners putting out a lot of money when they contract for construction and other jobs in their home. There is a person in Edgewater Landing that put out $4,500 and he has not seen the man back again. She commented on five driveways in Edgewater Landing that were painted and the proper paint wasn't used. She suggested residents watch more carefully who they are hiring and check with people about reputation. Councilwoman Lichter spoke about a call she received from a gentleman in Edgewater Landing about a water leak. The leak was fixed very quickly. The bill was not right because of the leak but a phone call today took care of that and the whole thing got straightened out rapidly. Councilwoman Lichter commented on political signs having to be taken down two weeks after an election but there not being any time frame as to when they can be put up. Generally people have waited until everybody that is declare they are going to run have made that declaration which is plenty of time in September. She sees we are starting very early this year. She feels this is something they should put on their agenda and see what other cities are doing and in the future limit the amount of months that political signs can go up. Mayor Schmidt thanked Councilwoman Lichter for attending the Coast Guard function for him. Page -2- Council Regular Meeting August 1, 2005 '-" ~ Mayor Schmidt commented on the trip he went on in the Indian River Lagoon. He feels people don't realize the work that goes into the little mosquitoes. It was a very eye opening experience on the islands and the upkeep of some of the dunes and some of the work that was done 100+ years ago. 6. PUBLIC HEARINGS, ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS A. 2nd Reading, Ord. No. 2005-0-41, Marcia Barnett requesting annexation of 1.67+ acres of land located south of 35th Street - (cont. from 7/18/05, Item 61) Paralegal Matusick read Ord. 2005-0-41 into the record. City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Mayor Schmidt asked how many residential lots this is going to be. City Manager Hooper informed him at this point they are not certain because some of the engineering to be done associated with the drainage some ponds haven't been described. He estimated between 25 and 30. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Schmidt opened and closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve Ord. 2005-0-41, Marcia Barnett reauestina annexation of 1.67+ acres of land located south of 35~ street, second bv Councilman Vincenzi. The MOTION CARRIED 5-0. B. 2nd Reading, Ord. No. 2005-0-35, Marcia Barnett requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to include 9.91~ acres of land located south of 35th Street, east of Travelers Palm Drive and west of Needle Palm Drive as R-3 (Single Family Residential) - (cont. from 7/18/05, Item 6K) Paralegal Matusick read Ord. 2005-0-35 into the record. City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Schmidt opened and closed the public hearing. Page -3- Council Regular Meeting August 1, 2005 .... """" Councilwoman Rhodes moved to approve Ord. 2005-0-35, Marcia Barnett reauestina an amendment to the Official Zonina Map to include 9.91+ acres of land located south of 35th street, east of Travelers Palm Drive and west of Needle Palm Drive as R-3 (Sinale Familv Residential), second by Councilman Brown. The MOTION CARRIED 5-0. C. 2nd Reading, Ord. No. 2005-0-37, David Lind requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to include 4.1~ acres of land located at the northeast corner of US1 and Jones Fish Camp Road as B-3 (Highway Commercial) - (cont. from 7/18/05, Item 6L) Paralegal Matusick read Ord. 2005-0-37 into the record. City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Schmidt opened and closed the public hearing. Councilman Vincenzi asked if there are any definite plans for all the small pieces being annexed in. City Manager Hooper stated there are no plans for them. The process brings them into the City, gets the appropriate zoning category. Their next step is to come back with a site plan. They still have a Land Development Code process to go through. Some of them will come back to Council depending on the size of them. Councilman Brown moved to approve Ord. 2005-0-37, David Lind reauestina an amendment to the Official Zonina Map to include 4.1+ acres of land located at the northeast corner of US1 and Jones Fish Camp Road as B-3 (Hiahway Commercial), second by Councilwoman Rhodes. The MOTION CARRIED 5-0. D. 2nd Reading, Ord. No. 2005-0-39, John and Patricia Hickey requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to include 4.7~ acres of land located at the northwest corner of US1 and Clinton Cemetery Road as B- 3 (Highway Commercial) - (cont. from 7/18/05, Item 6M) Paralegal Matusick read Ord. 2005-0-39 into the record. Page -4- Council Regular Meeting August 1, 2005 ..... -...".1 City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Schmidt opened and closed the public hearing. Councilman Vincenzi moved to approve Ord. 2005-0-39, John and Patricia Hickey reauestinq an amendment to the Official Zoninq Map to include 4.7+ acres of land located at the northwest corner of US! and Clinton Cemetery Road as B-3 (Hiqhway Commercial), second bY Councilwoman Lichter. The MOTION CARRIED 5-0. E. 1st Reading, Ord. No. 2005-0-43, Marcia Barnett requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to include 1.67~ acres of land located south of 35th Street as R-3 (Single Family Residential) - (cont. from 7/18/05, Item 6N) Paralegal Matusick read Ord. 2005-0-43 into the record. City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Councilwoman Lichter stated she knows they said that no new items were going to be put on their list in terms of taking land in. She questioned if this is not considered a new item because it's connected with something we have already taken in. City Manager Hooper explained it is an infill project. When they were describing, he was talking of larger tracts we have annexed to the south almost to Ariel Road. What they have done, by way of scheduling, delayed taking new applications of anything south or west until we get caught up. This was already in the works. Councilwoman Lichter asked for an explanation on the agriculture use. City Manager Hooper explained it is ag zoned in the County so it has a particular plat that exists. The County allows you to have unrecorded plats. The City has annexed most of it so it has an existing agricultural zoning even though it had a paper plat. Councilwoman Lichter asked if they were going to allow horses. City Manager Hooper informed her not in the R-3. Once it is designated and you go into the zoning it's not. City Manager Hooper further explained where it is right now is probably not suitable for horses. Page -5- Council Regular Meeting August 1, 2005 ~ ...." Councilwoman Lichter asked where in the City they can have horses. She asked to be told by the next meeting. Councilwoman Lichter stated she heard from someone that works for the vet and questioned where she could buy enough land around here in Volusia County so she could have horses. He doesn't know of any areas in the City that would be conducive to having ranchettes or large enough five or ten acre tracts. Councilwoman Lichter asked what the requirement is in acreage to have horses. City Manager Hooper stated you don't have it in the City. Councilwoman Lichter asked if something came in on Mission Road where they might be allowed to have them could that zoning continue. City Manager Hooper informed her yes. What happens is they annex and if they leave the zoning the same, they can do that for a number of years. As soon as they want to do any development, that is what they are looking to do. That is why they are coming into the City is to get the services to be able to develop that. He spoke of horses, cows and pigs being more appropriate in the County. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Schmidt opened and closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Rhodes moved to approve Ord. 2005-0-43, Marcia Barnett requestina an amendment to the Official Zonina Map to include 1.67+ acres of land located south of 35~ street as R-3 rSinale Familv Residential), second bv Councilman Brown. The MOTION CARRIED 5-0. F. 2nd Reading, Ord. No. 2005-0-17, River Colony Inc. requesting an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map to include 4.22~ acres of land located north of Jones Fish Camp Road and west of the Indian River - (cont. from 7/18/05, Item 60) Paralegal Matusick read Ord. 2005-0-17 into the record. City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Schmidt opened and closed the public hearing. Page -6- Council Regular Meeting August 1, 2005 "-'" ...." Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve Ord. 2005-0-17, River Colony Inc. Reauestina an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan FUture Land Use Map to include 4.22+ acres of land located north of Jones Fish Camp Road and west of the Indian River, second bv Councilwoman Rhodes. The MOTION CARRIED 5-0. G. 2nd Reading, Ord. No. 2005-0-34, Marcia Barnett requesting an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map to include 9.91~ acres of land located south of 35th street, east of Travelers Palm Drive and west of Needle Palm Drive as Low Density Residential with Conservation Overlay - (cont. from 7/18/05, Item 6P) Paralegal Matusick read Ord. 2005-0-34 into the record. City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Schmidt opened and closed the public hearing. Councilman Brown moved to approve Ord. 2005-0-34, Marcia Barnett reauestina an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map to include 9.91+ acres of land located south of 35th street, east of Travelers Palm Drive and west of Needle Palm Drive as Low Density Residential with Conservation OVerlay, second by Councilman Vincenzi. The MOTION CARRIED 5-0. H. 1st Reading, Ord. No. 2005-0-42, Marcia Barnett requesting an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map to include 1.67~ acres of land located south of 35th Street as Low Density Residential - (cont. from 7/18/05, Item 6S) Paralegal Matusick read Ord. 2005-0-42 into the record. City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Schmidt opened and closed the public hearing. Page -7- Council Regular Meeting August 1, 2005 ........ ." Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve Ord. 2005-0-42, Marcia Barnett reauestina an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan FUture Land Use Map to include 1.67+ acres of land located south of 35~ street as Low Densitv Residential, second bv Councilwoman Rhodes. The MOTION CARRIED 5-0. I. Res. No. 2005-R-ll, adoption of Phase II, the Boat Facility Siting component of the Manatee Protection Plan (MPP) Paralegal Matusick read Res. 2005-R-ll into the record. City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. The City would have 418 slips. The slips are up to the City to decide how they are allocated. He spoke of these slips being a first come first serve. The City can sell them or lease them. If it's a public use, you could give them to somebody. This is what they are going to be looking at. This first step says you support Volusia County and the State in coming up with a Marina Siting Facility and we will participate under the aggregation option. He further commented on other options. The County went it adopts will have a Manatee Plan that is only for the unincorporated. Each one of the cities will then adopt this type of aggregation or opt out or some other format. It will all get combined into one plan and will be submitted to the State. There will still be an impact fee for everyone trying to build a dock. It's $1,000 for non- residential, $250 for residential. That money would go into a trust fund that would support law enforcement and education. City Manager Hooper stated step one is a resolution supporting the intent and that the City's desire is to do aggregation and acknowledging the number of 418 is about where we are going to be. Councilwoman Lichter stated when she was on the Indian River Task Force for four years, she served on the Manatee Committee. What Volusia County came up with was much stricter. However it started a war between fishermen, boaters and manatee lovers. She feels this has turned into a financial issue. She will be voting on it because there is nothing else to vote for. Everything else by the State has been turned down. She feels this is an economic thing now and speed has not even been mentioned in this situation but was part of the original one that was sent to the State. Page -8- Council Regular Meeting August 1, 2005 '-' ...." city Manager Hooper stated this is only the siting for marinas. The speed and no wake zones are in Phase I. That is a different component. Councilwoman Lichter asked if that passed. City Manager Hooper informed her that has been passed and approved by the state for Volusia County. This last component is the toughest. Councilwoman Lichter spoke of this being good for us economically. Councilman Vincenzi asked how some of the numbers were determined for the existing inventory. City Manager Hooper elaborated. Councilman Brown stated when they improve Kennedy Park and increase the parking over there, he asked if we will be losing some of the 418 because we increase the amount of parking for boats. City Manager Hooper informed him yes. Councilwoman Rhodes asked who will decide who gets the slips. City Manager Hooper informed her the Council will. There are 418 the state has said you have aggregated that are under the City's control. Councilwoman Rhodes expressed concern with needing more slips in the future. City Manager Hooper further commented on the balance the Council will have to deal with. They will be looking at economic development. One of the criteria is he is hoping they aren't giving any to anyone that will sell them as part of a condominium and they are gone and become somebody else's profit. If they got into that game, they would have some to sell and they are quite expensive. Councilwoman Rhodes questioned writing a policy after this of a way to deal with it so it is equitable and never can be used as favoritism or anything of that nature. Coucnilman Vincenzi feels this is the next step. City Manager Hooper confirmed it is the next step. The Council will develop a set of guidelines that will say how it will be distributed and the cost and whether to sell or lease. Some they may give because it is a public facility. If part 0 fit is grant operated and one of the conservation groups build a ramp, that may be somewhere where they do say they are willing to give one or two or some number of these. Page -9- Council Regular Meeting August 1, 2005 ."-" ...,., Mayor Schmidt spoke of a buildable lot on Riverside Drive. If someone lives on the west side of Riverside Drive and doesn't own a buildable lot on the east side but they own a piece of land but can't build a house, is that counted into where they would be able to put a dock. City Manager Hooper stated yes. They took a large scale area, overlayed a plat with all of the property lines. Everywhere that could be identified somebody on the west that had access on the east was given one slip. What could happen is if somebody at a later date subdivides one of their lots and go from a 100 foot lot and create two fifty foot lots, there has been one reserve. They are in the same situation then as they would be today. Today you are guaranteed one by the State for every single family residence. If it's divided that no longer holds true and they would have to apply and they mayor may not get that permit. Councilman Vincenzi stated with the amount of development that is going on down south, he hopes they will be working on a plan very quickly. City Manager Hooper stated before any are allocated the Council has to approve a plan. Councilman Vincenzi asked estimated within 60 days. policy for them to adopt. not be the sole factor in for a time frame. City Manager Hooper Council will see this very soon as a Councilman Vincenzi hopes money will determining who gets what. Mayor Schmidt opened the public hearing. The following citizens spoke: Dominic Capria, 606 Topside Circle, asked about the City controlling 418 slips. He asked how that would affect Edgewater Landing if the City controls these slips and yet it is private property. City Manager Hooper informed Mr. Capria that Edgewater Landing already has 124 permitted. There would be no impact on that. Whatever you are currently permitted would stay intact. This is 418 new slips on top of anything that exists today. David Chess, 209 Oak Branch Drive, asked City Manager Hooper to tell him of the advantage of opting in for the 418 slips. If they don't opt in is there still the same limitation imposed upon us by the County or State? Page -10- Council Regular Meeting August 1, 2005 .~. ....." City Manager Hooper explained the limitations become a slip to shore ratio. If you own 500 feet of shoreline, you are entitled to five slips. If you are building a condominium, a public marina or a public property and you are only 500 feet wide you will never get enough so what happens is in theory you take some of the City's property that will never be used and you transfer those slips to a public facility. He commented on Edgewater Harbor having commercial public frontage and then we were able to have public ability to buy those or lease those. Mr. Chess stated if you don't opt in what limitations do you have. Do you have the same 418 slips if you don't opt into this? City Manager Hooper stated no you don't. You don't know what you have. The City has nothing and each property owner that owns whatever footage they own they are entitled to go ask for a permit. Mr. Chess spoke of controlling the distribution and not controlling the slip through some type of a fee. City Manager Hooper stated you are controlling the distribution as to where those slips would be located. You are looking at a city-wide issue of locating a marina. Mr. Chess asked City Manager Hooper if he felt this proposal would be an advantage toward helping our marine industry here if we opt into this program or a disadvantage. City Manager Hooper stated it is an advantage. You will be able to create marinas. If the City opts out you won't be able to get any permits for anything other than residential docks. Mayor Schmidt closed the public hearing. Councilman Brown asked if this includes all the way down to Ariel Road. City Manager Hooper informed him it includes everything as of June that was annexed that had waterfront. Councilman Brown asked what happens as we annex out do we pick up more? City Manager Hooper informed him yes. You can re-evaluate this number on an annual basis. As you go further south, it gets more stringent because you go into Class II waters, which are waters where you harvest oysters and clams so the restrictions on boat siting or marina siting is much greater as you go south. Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve Res. 2005-R-ll, adoption of Phase II, the Boat Facilitv Sitinq component of the Manatee Protection Plan (MPP), second bv Councilwoman Rhodes. Page -11- Council Regular Meeting August 1, 2005 '-" ..., The MOTION CARRIED 5-0. 7. BOARD APPOINTMENTS A. Police Pension Board - affirming Police Department's election of Gary Conroy and Dan Blazi to fill vacated seats Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve affirmina the Police Department's election of Garv Conroy and Dan Blazi to fill vacated seats on the Police Pension Board, second bv Councilwoman Rhodes. The MOTION CARRIED 5-0. 8 . CONSENT AGENDA There were no items to be discussed on the Consent Agenda at this time. 9. OTHER BUSINESS A. Jim Rives, agent for Barbara McLaren, Trustee, requesting a lien reduction from Code Enforcement Case #2004-CE-6067 and #2005-CE-2059 totaling $10,074 City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. They are asking for a lien waiver to reduce the lien from $10,000 to $5,000. Staff recommended it be reduced from $10,000 to $5,000 subject to only when the property is sold. When the property is sold and changes hands they will immediately do a lien reduction. Councilman Brown asked what kind of time frame they are giving them to sell this property. City Manager Hooper stated he didn't think there was a time frame. Fire Marshal Jill Danigel stated it hinges upon the reduction of the lien. City Manager Hooper stated they have done this for others on a smaller scale. The whole idea is compliance. The punishment is to force compliance. City Manager Hooper further commented on if the City forced foreclosure. Page -12- Council Regular Meeting August 1, 2005 '-' ...., Councilwoman Rhodes questioned if anybody lived there. City Manager Hooper stated he thought off and on. Ms. Danigel stated she thought he lived there off and on and when it reached the peak of a problem, he moves away and tries to clean up. Councilwoman Rhodes questioned why we have never gone in there and tried to clean it up. Ms. Danigel stated they have never had to go quite that far. There has been an attempt made to clean up so we have never gone in to do anything. City Manager Hooper commented on people cleaning up a little but not quite enough and then they become repeat offenders. Councilwoman Rhodes hates lowering this fine because it is such a blatant disregard for the neighborhood and this City but on the other hand if I am the next door neighbor, please sell this property and please get it cleaned up. In the spirit of that she would do it. Councilman Vincenzi feels these are two violations that have been going on for eight years. It is a repeat violation and is someone that knows about the problem. The owner lives out of state which is no excuse for not maintaining the property so she had to know about it too. The problem he has with reducing this fine is it undermines the authority of the Code Enforcement Board because they levied the fine because the problem was not taken care of. He also had a problem with now all of a sudden they want to sell it so they are worried about the fines. He understands the business perspective of lower the fine and help them get rid of it. Hopefully somebody will buy it that will take care of it. He doesn't like that idea. These people had ample opportunity to take care of the property and just ignored it and cleaned it up a little bit on and off over the past eight years just so the Code Enforcement people would back off a little bit and then it goes right back to the condition it is. That whole area is like that. The City really needs to take some action to show people that they aren't going to stand for it anymore. Mayor Schmidt asked if the $10,074 is accumulating even as of this point or is it a frozen amount. Ms. Danigel stated it is topped out at the $5,000 maximum for each. The first accumulation of fines was at $50 per day rate. The second time they went before the Board it was a $100 per day rate. Page -13- Council Regular Meeting August 1, 2005 '-'" """'" Councilman Vincenzi stated the fact that they owe $10,000 he doesn't think will affect the sale because the person buying it will know there is a lien on it. They are going to have to negotiate the price. City Manager Hooper explained the person buying isn't going to care. The person selling it will have to pay the fine. The price of the property goes up $10,000. Councilman Vincenzi stated the seller would have to lower the price enough to make it attractive. He feels there is no reason this property should have been maintained the way it was for eight years and nobody did anything about it and now all of a sudden they want to sell it because they don't want to bother with it anymore and now they will make a pretty good amount of money on it. More so than they would have five or ten years ago and now the City wants to forgive half the lien. He feels this is wrong. City Manager Hooper agreed he also doesn't like the scenario but it's not getting any better every day that sits like that. Councilman Vincenzi feels if they want to sell it they will sell it whether there is a $5,000 or $10,000 lien on it. Councilwoman Rhodes feels they have two options. To either lower it so they can sell it and get the mess gone or they can go in and clean it up and charge them to do it and then whoever buys it has to pay for it. Councilman Brown stated they might take their own time to sell it and if they tell them they don't have to pay it until it is old they may wait five years and not sell it. He feels they have to have some type of restrictions on how long they have. City Manager Hooper stated they could say the reduction in lien would be good for a certain time frame. This is a little different because they have a realtor and they put the authority in the realtor to come in and try to move this property. It's appearing real. Paralegal Matusick stated a title company has done a lien inquiry so there appears to be some sort of contract procedure going on. Page -14- Council Regular Meeting August 1, 2005 ........ "frW/I Councilwoman Lichter expressed concern with undermining Code Enforcement. They are finally working in step. They are really showing results in the community. She thinks before they make a decision, Code Enforcement should be informed and part of the decision making in this case. She doesn't want to leave them out of the situation. City Manager Hooper stated you can't. The The Code Enforcement Board sets the fine. the fine is back to Council. They are the whether to reduce it or not. laws have changed. The only way to reduce sole controller of Councilwoman Rhodes referred to the property is currently under the enormous outstanding lien. going to buy this house if this the agenda request that states contract pending the reduction of In other words, these people are lien is reduced. Councilwoman Lichter agreed there should be a time limit. Councilwoman Rhodes stated she is sure there is if they are under contract because there is a time limit on the contract. Councilman Vincenzi stated if there is a contract on the property, the seller has to assume or satisfy the liens. Paralegal Matusick informed him it depends on the contract. Councilman Vincenzi stated the bottom line is this property is selling for a certain amount and someone doesn't want to budge on that $10,000 and they want to get a break on it. Either the buyer doesn't want to pay for it or the seller doesn't want to pay for it. He feels that is between those two. He feels this fine needs to stay in place because the Code Enforcement Board did their job and we need to support them. Councilwoman Rhodes agreed but by the same token if this sale does not go through that property needs to be cleaned up. It's not fair for their neighbors to have to suffer with their property because of this. Councilman Vincenzi stated that needs to be done and the City needs to take action on it. City Manager Hooper stated his advice to Council is, tell him they want him to clear the property and they can do that very fast. Tell him they want a time window in which they are going to reduce this lien or they will not reduce it and clear the property, which they can also do fast. Page -15- Council Regular Meeting August 1, 2005 "-" "Wf/I Councilman Vincenzi feels the owner needs to be contacted and notify them that the City will go in there and clean up that property and tack that on to the lien too. He doesn't understand why this request is valid. Mayor Schmidt asked Council if they wanted public input on this. It was the consensus of Council to allow the public to speak. The following citizens spoke: Chris Balmer, 148 William Street, stated apparently we have $5,000 into this project. Ms. Danigel confirmed it is $5,500. Mr. Balmer stated from a banker's perspective, they are into it for $5,000. The goal of Code Enforcement is compliance, not fee income. He suggested they take it out of these people's names and into the hands of someone that is going to take care of the property. He spoke of the large number of properties that do not turn over because the liens are too high and then they sit for years. He doesn't feel they should do that to the neighbors of this property in order to get another $5,000. Councilman Vincenzi believes in working with people if they are cooperating with Code Enforcement. These people have ignored Code Enforcement for eight years. Mr. Balmer feels the best thing to do is get them out of ownership of this house, not to force them to stay in it and keep playing these games. Jeanne DelNigro, 3130 Tamarind Drive, feels the Code Board is fantastic and are doing a good job. For eight years people have been looking at this and in eight years nothing as been done. She did a little research on it and the boy that lives there rides a bike with a basket on it and he goes around picking up junk and taking it there and dropping it off. His mother lives out of state. That is her problem. The lien is there. She suggested they let her clean the place up or she pays the $10,000 that is owed on it. She doesn't think they should take a dime off. If they are going to take a dime off they are going against the Code Board. They might as well not even have a Code Board because that is slapping them in the face. She recommended they go for the whole amount that is owed. Page -16- Council Regular Meeting August 1, 2005 ...... .." Councilman Brown moved to lower the lien to $5,500 for 60 days. If it is not sold within the 60 dayS, the full $10,074 is due and the City will clean the property and add it to the total cost. Councilwoman Rhodes seconded the motion. The MOTION CARRIED 3-2. Mayor Schmidt and Councilman Vincenzi voted NO. 10. OFFICER REPORTS A. city Clerk Wadsworth had nothing at this time. B. Paralegal Matusick had nothing at this time. C. City Manager City Manager Hooper asked Council to check their calendars to hold a Budget Work Session on August 15th at 5:30 p.m. before the regular Council meeting at 7:00 p.m. He agreed to feed them. City Manager Hooper stated Nextel got a grant and replaced most of our cell phones. We have 30 extra cell phones. What they have done in the past is offer those for sale to employees. They have done victims advocate donations. He would rather donate than sell. It was the consensus of Council to donate the phones. City Manager Hooper stated two weeks ago they had individuals talk about water meters and meter tests. He spoke of the gentleman that had a bill that tripled. They went back to 2000 and every year in June and July he refills his pool and his bill triples that one month and goes back to normal. They have yet to find any significant problems. They have found some software billing issues but they haven't found any issues with the radio reads or anything different with what we have on-going right now. Councilman Vincenzi commented on e-mails he has received about attitude of employees when people come in with problems. He asked City Manager Hooper if he looked into this and if there is any validity to it. City Manager Hooper stated he has looked into it. What has happened is people are calling upset and using foul language with the staff and he has instructed them to hang up. That is what he has found so far. He spoke of City staff getting tired of people trying to connive or use the system. He also spoke of having some new employees. They have talked and gone through some training on better enabling them to work with customers. It doesn't happen consistent and a lot of it is reaction. Page -17- Council Regular Meeting August 1, 2005 ...... ..",; Councilman Brown complimented Finance Director Jon Williams. A customer came in his store and had what he thought was a high water bill and Jon diffused the problem and was very professional and the person came back and complimented him on Jon's working and what he had done. City Manager Hooper stated they have some ideas about the billing system that they will bring forward to Council in October or November to make this a less cumbersome system than we have right now. 11. CITIZEN COMMENTS/CORRESPONDENCE The following citizens spoke: ~ke Visconti, 316 Pine Breeze Drive, stated U.S. #1 has never looked better than it does now. He spoke of the $100,000 grant the City received from DOT really working on SR 442. He feels it is really looking great. Mr. Visconti stated he came to Edgewater in 1993 and joined the Beautification Committee in 1994. Edgewater really looks its best at this point. When he came in on SR 442 and U.S. #1, the property where CVS is was for sale. At that time, that piece of property was for sale for $500,000. He came in front of the Council about it and thought what a spot for city Hall and the Police Station with the Library behind it. Across the way was the Fire Station. At that time the Council turned it down because it was too much money. Where the Parks and Recreation Department is now, they could have had that piece of property for $175,000 before Dustin's took part of it and we paid three times as much to get that piece of property. He understands they could have had Regions Bank for $4.2 million and maybe they could have stayed there for twelve years and paid the rent. During that time this piece of property could have been gutted and maybe here they could have built a new City Hall and for the price they could have gotten for the Regions Bank in ten to twelve years it would have paid for the new City Hall. That didn't happen. If the taxes would have gone up, according to the newspaper, a person who owned a house for $125,000 their taxes would have gone up $45 per year, less than $1 a week. They gave up a big piece of property for the price of a coke. He feels in the future wherever they go or whatever they do, they will leave it up to the Council that comes up at that time. To spend $8 million to $10 million for a new City Hall, the taxes are going to go up. Page -18- Council Regular Meeting August 1, 2005 '-'" ......, Chris Balmer, 148 William Street, stated the roadways are looking phenomenal on SR 442 and u.s. #1. People are really noticing. A. Tentative Agenda Items There were no Tentative Agenda Items to be discussed at this time. 12 . ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, Councilwoman Rhodes moved to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Lisa Bloomer Page -19- Council Regular Meeting August 1, 2005