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12-20-1999 - Regular 'W ... , , CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER REGULAR MEETING DECEMBER 20, 1999 7:00 P.M. COMMUNITY CENTER MINUTES 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 Attorney Nikki Clayton City Manager Kenneth Hooper City Clerk Susan Wadsworth Police Chief Lawrence Schumaker Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present INVOCATION, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE There was a silent invocation and pledge of allegiance to the Flag. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Reqular Meetinq of December 6, 1999 Councilman Vincenzi made a motion to approve the December 6, 1999 minutes, second by Councilwoman Rhodes. The motion CARRIED 5-0. PRESENTATIONS/PROCLAMATIONS/PLAQUES A. Adopt-a-Street, Joseph Brzuska, Chamber's Litter Prevention Chairman Mr. Joseph Brzuska commented on the Litter Prevention Committee. He spoke about Keep America Beautiful. He spoke about the reasons why people litter and the goals they want to reach. He then went over the Adopt-a-Street Program in New Smyrna Beach. Councilwoman Lichter stated she and Lynne Plaskett are on this Committee with the Chamber and the Litter Committee. She is hoping on their goal setting night that she could bring this up as one of their immediate goals. She is perfectly willing to put the time into this project if Council decides it would be a good one. with Lynne's help and maybe the Beautification Committee's help they could take this on. She and Lynne have talked in the past and they thought of a couple of business streets, not main highways, that might be good targets. Mayor Schmidt feels this is a good idea. Councilwoman Lichter spoke about a Boy Scout troop taking a particular street or a service organization might take a particular street. She spoke about legal implications that New Smyrna Beach is working through that will be to our benefit. Mayor Schmidt suggested to Mr. Hooper keeping this in mind when they have the meeting with the other cities. They could tie it all together and get Southeast as a big community. They have their goal setting session January 10th and Councilwoman Lichter would be a good contact person. Mr. Brzuska stated he is available anytime. '-' .."",. CITIZEN COMMENTS Mike Visconti, 316 pine Breeze Drive, spoke about the widening of SR 442. He urged the Council to take back our City from the Department of Transportation. He spoke about the medians being decorated at Christmas time for the citizens to enjoy. He feels they should leave a four foot median in the center. By doing this they will save 13 homes which will be taken for a retention pond. He doesn't want DOT to jam this down our throat like the Florida Power and Light poles. He firmly believes the Council could negotiate with the DOT and make changes. He once again urged Council to save our City. city Manager Hooper presented Council with an update on the status of the widening of SR 442. The 90% plans are done. Technically you could ask to change but in an essence they are headed for construction in the next four months. We are at the very last stages of the design of SR 442. Its current design has money coming from DOT for beautification for $100,000. It has a grant application of matching. If the City puts up money, DOT will match up to $300,000 for further beautification. He spoke about the sidewalk going out to 1-95. He spoke about elevation being a problem due to the road being raised. He spoke about a retaining wall and this not being aesthetically pleasing. He spoke about the alternative to doing that. This is the final part they are negotiating. They will be adding more parking spaces to our Library. They have responded to save the fountain by relocation. They have agreed to pay for the relocation of the fountain. He described to Council that any changes at this date would run the extreme risk of them saying they won't do the road and they will take the money and go elsewhere. Mayor Schmidt asked if they could get a copy of the 90% plans. City Manager Hooper stated he has a copy on his desk. He stated they could discuss it at the next Council meeting or the goal setting session. He spoke about the numerous compromises made by DOT. Councilwoman Lichter asked Mayor Schmidt to bring with him Mike Tanksley's sketches for the telephone poles and how he envisioned beautifying the poles. She spoke about the processing of buying homes having started. City Manager Hooper stated they have notified owners and if someone wanted to sell for the price they offered, he believes three of those have occurred. He spoke about SR 442 being a difficult road to design. Dick Jones, 1530 Sabal Palm Drive, spoke about Item 8A. He hopes to convince the Council not to go through with this agreement that Edgewater has presented to them. He is totally against this and feels they need to pull back. He feels if they are going to put an expansion on to our existing plant in the future, it would be a a lot cheaper than building a new plant for those people down there because they can't seem to justify the input they need for the funds they want to spend. He would like to see this go through another review before any commitment is made. Mr. Blaise, 901 S Ridgewood Avenue, would like to apply for the second $25,000 homestead exemption. City Attorney Clayton stated the place you would apply would be with the County Property Appraiser. Mr. Blaise stated he has already been there and the City of Edgewater said no and he wants to know why. City Attorney Clayton stated the City did not say no. They decided to wait and see what the effect of the adoption in other jurisdictions was and also wait to see what the final rules from the Department of Revenue were going to be in order to adopt the program or be able to consider whether to adopt the program next year. City Manager Hooper stated it would be brought back to the Council next year. Probably around April or May is when the Council will see it for the following year. Page -2- Council Regular Meeting December 20, 1999 -w' ..." Dominic Capria, 606 Topside Circle, stated these people need help. He asked if they have started checking into it and the impact. City Manager Hooper stated they have been checking into it but the real problem is all of the rules on how it will be implemented have not been completed. The real issue comes down to those that would be eligible. That is the income levels. Mr. capria stated from what he is reading the rules are pretty simple and it does exclude social security providing the social security is not used on the tax base, which means a heck of a lot to a lot of citizens. Mr. Capria spoke about the sewer plant. He asked in the building of this, the lines that will be put in, who is responsible to put those lines in, the City or the County. City Manager Hooper stated the City is responsible. Mr. Capria stated they could have done it without the County. City Manager Hooper stated when they get to that item he will cover in great detail the logic of why it is good for the City and the region. CITY COUNCIL REPORTS Councilwoman Lichter stated Dee Anderson, a resident of Florida Shores, has approached her concerning a sign indicating where Florida Shores Clubhouse is no longer being there. She feels they are concerned that a lot of people don't know there is a clubhouse there. She looked at Pelican Cove West. If there is any way they could help Florida Shores get a new sign, she would appreciate it. They are having another board meeting in January and would like to know if Council can do anything for them. City Manager Hooper stated if Council wishes, he could do some research and bring it back to Council. Mayor Schmidt stated he remembers when that sign was there and there is a house on the southeast corner now. Councilwoman Lichter asked whatever happened to the pilot company wanting to put up a directional sign at Park Avenue and U.S. #1. City Manager Hooper stated it was on one of their first agendas, which he took off, but it is scheduled to come before Council soon. Councilwoman Lichter spoke about the gas tax money. She asked if they have finished the deal of what every City is going to get back. city Manager Hooper commented on the formula that describes how this will work. Councilwoman Lichter asked about the Florida Shores Road Improvement Project being done in the past five years really helping Edgewater. City Manager Hooper stated that is the one he fought for and argued hard but we are probably the only city that would help. Councilwoman Lichter asked if they limit where we can spend that money or does it just go into our budget. City Manager Hooper stated it is limited to transportation areas. The City will start receiving payments in January. Councilwoman Rhodes spoke about Jerry Remington, a young man in Edgewater, that has cystic Fibrosis and he might not be here next Christmas without a double lung transplant. She was asked to mention it by a resident. She asked Council to keep this young man in the back of their mind because at some point, they may come across a way to help this young man. Councilman Brown had nothing at this time. Councilman Vincenzi had nothing at this time. Page -3- Council Regular Meeting December 20, 1999 ~ ....., Mayor Schmidt thanked everyone that turned out for the parade. Widening or no widening of SR 442, he thinks the parades will continue with that being the route. He feels every year they will get bigger and better. PUBLIC HEARINGS. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS A. 1st Public Hearinq, Joe Martin, authorized aqent for Scott and Jennifer Porta, is requestinq final Development Aqreement approval for 200, 210 and 220 Dale Street City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. This has been to the Planning and Zoning Board with a unanimous recommendation to go forward. Staff recommends approval. Mayor Schmidt asked about the $460,000 being money the city will get back eventually as we develop out there through fees. City Manager Hooper elaborated on how this will work and what the City will get back. Councilwoman Lichter stated when they put money out for roads, sewer, etc, is there any money coming in from the people involved to hook in. Is there some expense on their part or do we fund it all? City Manager Hooper explained they pay connection fees and impact fees. In this case, they are giving the city right-of-way property. This is becoming part of economic development. Councilwoman Lichter asked if the Economic Development Board is involved at all. City Manager Hooper stated yes they are involved and they are here tonight. Councilwoman Lichter asked if they have the money and don't have to borrow it. City Manager Hooper stated there is money in the water and sewer funds and some in the general fund. It may take a borrowing of some non ad valorem money over a short period of time. We have the money in hand to do it now. When they go through several projects they are going to look at on January 10th, by the time they are said and done he thinks in the next year there will be some bank borrowing. Not a bond issue or long term indebtedness but a bridge financing or some short term loans that they may do. Mr. Porta and Ms. Plaskett were available to answer any questions. Dominic Capria, 606 Topside Circle, stated a few meetings back they spoke about the roads and sewer and he believes the figure was $1.1 million. Now tonight he hears it is $460,000. City Manager Hooper stated he thinks he is talking about the FIND project and further elaborated. Mr. Capria is concerned with Phase I and II not materializing. City Manager Hooper stated he doesn't see how Phase I will not materialize. Councilwoman Lichter made a motion to approve the final Development Agreement, second by Councilwoman Rhodes. The motion CARRIED 5-0. B. 1st Public Hearinq, Attornev Marv Hansen, authorized aqent for Golden Star of Central Florida, Inc., is requesting final Development Aqreement approval for Roval Oaks Community Park, 800 W. Park Avenue City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Mary Hansen, Attorney, 420 S Nova Road, Daytona Beach, stated she is extremely pleased to bring this document before Council. She informed Ms. Plaskett she has been instrumental in getting what has been a very troubled manufactured housing park up to snuff. She is available to answer any questions as well as the project Engineer in addition to Karen Rearden and John DaRe. Page -4- Council Regular Meeting December 20, 1999 .., ..., There were no citizen comments at this time. Mary Hansen stated they truly appreciate the Council's timely decision and wished everyone a good holiday. Councilwoman Rhodes made a motion to approve the final Development Agreement, second by Councilwoman Lichter. The motion CARRIED 5-0. City Manager Hooper stated he sees some folks from Oak Hill if the Council is interested in moving the agenda around. Mayor Schmidt stated if there are no objections from Council, they are going to move the agenda around a little bit. There was a five-minute recess at this time to set up tables for the meeting with Oak Hill. They continued the meeting with Item 8A. A. Interlocal Water and Wastewater Aqreement - Oak Hill to outline concerns with the Aqreement between Edqewater and the Countv of Volusia. City Manager Hooper explained several diagrams for Council. One showing where Edgewater and Oak Hill boundaries could go to. There is nothing cast in stone, this is just a target area. The lift stations being at Edgewater Landing and Meadow Lake. The route generally is down u.S. #1 to get to the County's wastewater treatment system. He went over the location of where the County's wastewater system will be. He recommended to Council that they not expand the City's plant. It turns out that our plant has about enough capacity to service the vacant lots in Edgewater and not excess capacity to service what in years past had been talked of of some of this area to the south. He spoke about the cost to expand the City's plant as opposed to the City getting to the County's plant. It was cheaper to build a second plant than to expand our plant and run the lines. That got us into negotiations with an inter local agreement with the County. The County system is really to share with the city of Edgewater and to provide service to the unincorporated areas between the two cities. The agreement was approved back in October. The county has since purchased water from the city of Edgewater. They have paid the City of Edgewater $300,000 for that water capacity. Hacienda Del Rio has been taken offline and now it is using solely the City of Edgewater's water. City Manager Hooper is using some of the money that the County paid us to offset the cost of the extension of the force main to take the two lift stations off line so they won't go to our treatment plant and send them to the County's treatment plant. A lot of discussion is that is the only way this plant becomes viable for the County. That would help them because they would have original customers. He further elaborated on how it will help us. He feels we are in a good situation and this is the best for the whole area to get central water and sewer, to do industrial development and to make the area so it will be safer. Councilwoman Lichter asked about the rates. She has received calls from former residents of the County who have told her the rates the County charges for service is more than what we charge in Edgewater and they are concerned if they will be paying the same rates as the rest of the City or will they pay County rates. City Manager Hooper explained it will be the same as the City rates. It is a cost per gallon, wholesale treatment. There will be no change in rates for the residents of Edgewater. Councilwoman Lichter stated she toured the area on the east side where they are planning to put the plant. She asked why is it on the right side where there is lower land where there might be the potential of some type of seepage to the river instead of on the higher land on the left. Page -5- Council Regular Meeting December 20, 1999 ... ...., Mary Ann Connors, utilities Director for Volusia County, commented on the plant location. She spoke of the distance this particular site is from residential areas. In terms of concerns about runoff or where the reuse where be applied or the application process, those are all issues that have been subject to very stringent review by permitting agencies and there is no concern in terms of this plant's location. Councilwoman Lichter asked if there was a comparison between the two. Ms. Connors spoke about the site they originally looked at. Oak Hill Mayor Jeff Bracy elaborated on items brought up by City Manager Hooper and Marian Connors. He questioned why the taxpayers had to pay $1.5 million to buy 750 acres of orange grove to build a sewer plant. He turned over the meeting to Doug Kennedy who would be asking questions. Doug Kennedy, 175 Gary Avenue, thanked Edgewater for giving Oak Hill the opportunity to discuss this matter. He was appointed to a Committee with Mr. Babcock and the City Attorney to look into resolving some of the concerns. He turned the presentation over to Mr. Babcock and agreed to continue when Mr. Babcock was done. Sherman Babcock, 270 Navajo Drive, Oak Hill, Chairman, Economic Development Board, City of Oak Hill, stated when they originally started looking at this the Economic Development Board was in favor of this. He commented on the reasons why he changed his mind with regard to the plant location. He spoke about the depth of the wells in Oak Hill. He feels the cost of the plant has been a problem all along and he doesn't see that improving. Mr. Kennedy stated City Manager Hooper has represented to them that this is a good deal for the City of Edgewater. He questioned sending 51 million gallons of raw sewage to the city limits of Oak Hill. This plant is not of the caliper that you can treat the sewage at now. Mr. Hooper has also indicated that this is being done because you want to reserve your capacity or are close to your capacity. He presented Council with an interoffice memorandum from DEP in Tallahassee which states the city has a 2.75 meg plant. You are using 1.6. You have enough capacity to take care of Southeast Volusia and then some. Not only are you going to lose 51 million gallons of reclaimed water for the City residents, you are going to pay $280 a day or $104,000 the first year in profit back to the County with a 4 1/2% increase. The County gave you $300,000 but they are also asking you to spend $440,000 to put a line in, which leaves you $140,000 short and then you are going to give them $104,000 the first year and it is going to increase by 4 1/2% for the next twenty years. The purpose of them being here tonight is strictly environmental. Fifty one million gallons of sewage is a lot of sewage to concentrate in anyone area without the best available treatment plant to treat it. The County is not building the best. You have excess capacity and can treat it. Why even take the chance of polluting wells. They are alarmed by all the changes that have been made. We are here to ask the Council to give them some time to find out what they are doing and come back and present it. His main concern is he doesn't understand how the City can lose a quarter of a million dollars net profit the first year of sewer people for the intention you will get future customers. An interlocal agreement for water was put in in 1996. If you do nothing, you are guaranteed the southeast. They can not build a new sewer plant or water plant because of the Indian River Lagoon Act. If you challenge their permit and the permitting process, you will have to go to the central sewer system which is yours. They will have no choice. Their main concern is the pollution issue. Mr. Kennedy handed out a letter to Council regarding the application that went to DEP to make Edgewater Phase I of their thing to send treatment down to that plant being denied. Page -6- Council Regular Meeting December 20, 1999 'W' ..",., Councilwoman Lichter asked Mr. Kennedy to explain the first handout a little better. Who is Don Berryhill and what funds might not go through? She didn't quite know what this was talking about. Mr. Kennedy elaborated on Councilwoman Lichter's concerns. He spoke about if you make changes, you are in violation. He challenged the County to show him how this thing is every going to be profitable. He feels there is a whole lot more that needs to be looked into. What they are asking is if it turns out there is a possibility of pollution, Oak Hill would like Edgewater to exercise its option to give a three-year notification. City Manager Hooper elaborated on the multi-step process this has to go through. He further spoke about the 201 Plan and the permitting process. He spoke about the difference in the proposed sewer plant and our sewer plant. He spoke about there being appeal processes with regard to the permit. He doesn't think the city or Mr. Kennedy or anybody have taken advantage of that process. This is expensive and difficult. The questions that are being raised tonight have been raised before and sent to the Secretary of DOT. The plant is full permitted and has run its appeal process. If someone wanted to appeal it, they had a time to appeal it and could have appealed it through many state agencies through an administrative hearing process. As far as the business end for us, it is a great business deal for us. We aren't paying cash out, we are trading water for sewer. Those lines are going to open up the ability for new customers, which is exactly what we have all been talking about with regarding to economic development. We would all love to lower our water and sewer rates. The only way to do that is to expand the customer base. He feels they need to talk about the permit and questioned why they didn't challenge the permit. Mr. Kennedy stated they just found this deletion July 22nd. They are taking all the scrubbers and everything else out of the plant. We weren't aware of this. This is something they have just sent asking for a change as of July that nobody was aware about. Mr. Kennedy questioned City Manager's Hooper comment regarding the whole thing being to get new customers. If you did not do the deal with the County, would you get new customers. City Manager Hooper stated he would not get new sewer customers. Mr. Kennedy questioned sending 51 million gallons of sewage to Oak Hill and paying for that each year, an increasing of over $100,000 of your bottom line net, is profitable to Edgewater's wastewater system. City manager Hooper stated it will be profitable to our wastewater system. As our system builds out, we have enough vacant lots in Edgewater and enough vacant property that all of our capacity is going to be used to handle that. Mr. Kennedy asked what year that is expected to be used by. City Manager Hooper informed him that is probably a ten to fifteen year build out. Mr. Kennedy spoke about being $250,000 in the hole the first year and questioned how many new customers will it take to make up that bottom line profit. City Manager Hooper stated something like 250, approximately a year and a half. Mr. Kennedy questioned if it is better to have your own plant. city Manager Hooper explained it is not better to have your own plant. It is better to have a regional plant that is going to serve and maximize its capacity. This plant is expandable. If there is a need to, they are going to expand it. Mr. Kennedy questioned how much capacity the County really needs to cover its customer base for this plant. Less than 70,000 gallons. They have Hacienda and 40 homes in Lighthouse Cove that are the only customers they plan to hook up to this plant. Councilwoman Rhodes would like to hear the County's response. Ms. Connor spoke about the environment. The County approached this project from the beginning with the objective that there would not be discharge to the Indian River Lagoon. That has been one of the guiding principles behind this plant. She further spoke about reuse water. Page -7- Council Regular Meeting December 20, 1999 ...... ..." Ms. Connor then went over the finances. There is no question that Edgewater is important in terms of making this plant important in terms of financial liability. She stated they had looked at being able to eliminate some septic tanks a long the Indian River Lagoon. She spoke of the pollution in the Indian River Lagoon. South Waterfront Park has been identified by the Health Department as an area they recommend highly for elimination of septic tanks. This has been and remains one of their objectives. The County Council chose not to pursue a special assessment for that area. They are trying everything they can to find money that would allow us to be able to provide these systems without having to do a special assessment. The system provides infrastructure in an area that will allow it to develop. DEP is fully aware of everything they have done. She referenced the letter provided by Mr. Kennedy which references a significant modification of the project. What was under consideration at that time was whether or not SRF monies could have been used to send flows to Edgewater. DEP told them no because it wasn't the plan brought to them, not the plan they approved, and not the plan they would fund. Ms. Connor referenced a letter that was addressed to Oak Hill in January 1998 from Vivian Garfine, who is the head of the Orlando office of DEP. These are all issues that DEP and various offices have examined. This is a fully permitted project that has been through the most rigorous examination both of its operational standards and its finances. They continue to qualify for use of our state revolving loan fund. They think this plan has brought something to Edgewater and to the citizens in the unincorporated areas and hopefully long term, it will bring something to Oak Hill. City Manager Hooper gave Council a copy of the letters Ms. Connor was talking about. He feels all of the steps that you must go through to permit a plant, are there. If you want to appeal the permitting of the plant there is a process. He feels they have negotiated a very good financial deal for us to be customers and to continue on with that process where we are wholesale customers that are going to buy additional capacity and sell additional water capacity. Mr. Kennedy stated without Edgewater, this plant wouldn't be built. You are providing that so they can handle 70,000 gallons a day. He stated Councilman Jim Ward is also in the audience and asked him to give his opinion of what he thinks of this deal. Mayor Bracy stated he has listened to Ms. Connor for the last six years and addressed some of the things she said regarding pollution of the river, the hammock and the purchasing of the orange grove. He asked Council what they are really doing here and why are they building a plant to service Hacienda Del Rio, Lighthouse Cove, and buying or diverting the City's sewer into this new plant which they are going to divert the water out of this plant into the hammock that is going to pollute the river in Scottsmoor and Titusville. He asked Council to give them some time and come back. Mayor Bracy asked Mr. Ielfield from Hacienda Del Rio to speak about the scrubbers and the stuff on the plant that is not going to be there. Councilwoman Lichter stated let's assume this is environmentally okay and from our viewpoint the deal is good, she also has a quirk in her head about hurting her neighbors. She asked if the plant location will infringe in any way on economic development of Oak Hill. Ms. Connor stated that is a County owned piece of property now. She feels the question for economic development is more critically back to do you have the infrastructure to support it. If you don't, there isn't any economic development. Page -8- Council Regular Meeting December 20, 1999 ...., ...., Ms. Connor went on to explain Oak Hill's growth historically has been along u.s. #1. This plant allows u.s. #1 to develop. It will allow residential growth in planned communities, it will allow commercial and industrial development and will bring opportunities that would not be there otherwise. Councilwoman Lichter spoke about every City from Port Orange south expanding west. It is one of our goals to try and expand west. Might it not be one of theirs. Ms. Connor stated she believes Oak Hill would look at expansion out May town Road. She stated there are many factors besides ownership in this plant that would affect its viability in terms of expansion to the west. There is a lot of infrastructure that has to be in place before the City can expand. Mayor Bracy stated if the plant is built west of us, how can they expand west. He stated there is a sawgrass pond that is on this 750 acres that is protected by the federal government. He doesn't see how the Finance Director can justify the construction of the plant based on the current number of customers. If they couldn't prove that South Waterfront Park and Indian Harbor was polluting, then why are they building this plant. Ms. Connor spoke about different plants they have and their locations. She went on to address finances. Where they have built plants and put in infrastructure and made the investment, development comes. It has never failed to happen. They have been doing this for many years and the County is always in the position of building plants ahead of development. There was a brief discussion regarding exactly where the plant will sit. Mayor Bracy again asked if he may bring Mr. Ielfield up. He feels the City has a class act sewer plant in the City of Edgewater. He spoke of the plant being odor free. This plant they are fixing to build, when we get a northwest wind, our City is going to be covered with the odor. Councilwoman Rhodes asked if Oak Hill's problem is with DEP or the County. Mr. Kennedy stated there have been significant changes within the last six months that we aren't sure if DEP is aware of them and they have re-permitted them. That is why they are asking for the time to reconfirm that it is still in compliance. Ms. Connor stated DEP is fully aware of all of the changes. Mr. Kennedy stated it is also on the record that they must assess Waterfront Park and Indian Harbor Estates a special assessment or their loan is in violation. They haven't done either and in the conversation with DEP as late as this week, they still plan to come in and force city residents, says DEP, which they can not do by State law. They would like to get the documents in writing and have them all in order without the changes to what is going on. He believes the City Clerk can attest to phone conversations that they say one thing and DEP tells us something different. The only thing they know is Edgewater is the largest customer and the reason they are building this plant is to service Edgewater. They have a letter dated December 7th where it was denied, they are saying for the transmission line, DEP on the phone is saying no, as a customer base. Councilwoman Rhodes feels they have come to the wrong place. The problem is with the County and DEP apparently. She thinks it is unfair to ask Edgewater to step in. She feels we are being put in the middle and Oak Hill wants us to negotiate this process. Page -9- Council Regular Meeting December 20, 1999 ...". ...., Mr. Kennedy stated they are not asking the city to negotiate this process. This process was brought before the last Council at the 11th hour and approved. It has come to light so many changes that before you continue to go on, that you give us the opportunity to show you there may be some problems with this deal. Councilwoman Lichter asked what the delay means in terms of our project that is being requested by Mr. Kennedy. city Manager Hooper stated Councilwoman Rhodes is absolutely on target. This issue is with the permit. The permit was issued in 1997 and they could have appealed anytime over the past two years. There is an appeal process to go through the whole thing with DEP. Not the City or the County's problem. If they are upset with the way it is permitted or think there is missing ingredients, that is the steps. He has been through it and doesn't think there is any missing ingredients. He feels the plant is a good gold mine for long term development. Councilwoman Rhodes agreed with city Manager Hooper as well as Mr. Kennedy. She believes they want the best for our environment. Mr. Kennedy stated 51 million gallons a year. That is why they are asking for 60 to 90 days. He feels County Councilman Jim Ward can shed light on this as a business deal. Jim Ward, County Councilman, District 2, stated he didn't come here to speak, he came to listen. He will give his opinion but he is not here to get in the middle of this battle. He thinks it is a bad business deal for County utilities. That has been his argument from the beginning. It was based simply on what it would bring in. He commented on the usage of a 600,000 per gallon per day plant, only 104,000 gallons would be used per month and that is pretty low. Even at build out, in fourteen years, they will still only be using about 200,000 gallons per day on a 600,000 gallon plant. It is no secret, the plant won't run without Edgewater. Councilwoman Rhodes asked Councilman Ward if he had any environmental concerns. Councilman Ward stated they haven't taken the first home off of a septic tank. They, as a Council, decided not to put an assessment on Indian Harbor Estates and South Waterfront Park. Councilman Ward commented on this being a bad business deal for County utilities and the County utility customers to lose money for fourteen years. Councilwoman Rhodes asked Councilman Ward if he felt it was a good business deal for Edgewater. Councilman Ward stated it may be a good deal for Edgewater. The County paid the City $300,000 up front and they won't start collecting the City's $100,000 until the plant comes on line, which will be about $10,000 per month. Councilman Vincenzi asked when construction is expected and when will it be finished. Councilman Ward stated he is not here to try and get in between the two cities. He represents Edgewater and Oak Hill and this is his opinion as a business person. It is a bad deal for County utility customers. The County voted 5-2 to pass it. The deal with Edgewater was struck after that. They didn't know at the time that they had to have Edgewater to make it run. Page -10- Council Regular Meeting December 20, 1999 'llllIJlf ..."" Mayor Schmidt asked about the customers of the county that they aren't going to force them to hook up, have people talked to them to get their opinion. Are there people voluntarily going to want to go on this because they don't want the septic tank? He spoke about when the City went on sewers. Councilman Ward explained there were some people from Indian Harbor Estates and South Waterfront Park that were in favor of putting it in. Ms. Connors explained the plant is under construction and should be completed this time next year. Councilwoman Rhodes stated Mr. Kennedy and Mayor Bracy have asked the City to hold off and questioned how long they want us to hold off. Mr. Kennedy stated ideally would be 90 days. They have some people they would like to have come to the City commission meetings such as the health department to define which way the flow is. They would hopefully be able to complete this in 60 days. Councilwoman Rhodes asked City Manager Hooper if this is possible. City Manager Hooper explained ours is a multi-step process. We aren't going to go out and spend $400,000 tomorrow. We are going to authorize an engineer to do an alignment study and go out and design some pipes. We are a long way from spending money. They can take their 90 days and question the permit. We will not have spent any construction money by then so it won't hurt us. He would like to consummate the deal and get the engineers going and if they find a way to stop the permit, he is sure we will be the first to know. He urged Council to continue on the path with the addendum in front of them. Councilwoman Lichter commented on us already starting by selling water. City Manager Hooper explained the plant has started. We have started by doing an agreement. Their argument is with the State. Councilwoman Rhodes stated in 90 days they could still halt if they showed us some real compelling reasons, other than hearsay. Mr. Kennedy stated the only difference is you are going to be $440,000 more out. City Manager Hooper stated no we won't, we will not have paid any of that money. Mr. Kennedy stated you won't have spent any but you will have signed an agreement and will legally be responsible for it. It will only take four to five months to build your lines down to that plant. City Manager Hooper stated we will not be responsible, we will have signed an agreement that says first there is a planning phase, there is a design phase, there is a permitting phase. If someone comes in and says the plant can't be built, these folks will be the first to tell me we have a problem and they are stopping construction. They won't continue construction. He is very confident that we won't waste any money on a plant that isn't going to be built. Mr. Kennedy asked City Manager Hooper if he feels confident that he won't be violating the SRF loan in any way. city Manager Hooper stated yes, he does feel confident with that. Sandra Haley, 189 Charles Street, South Waterfront Park, stated they did not oppose the sewer plant. We have 411 lots, 360 houses and over 1f3 of our population are widows. They do not have the funding base in which to afford an assessment. The assessment was $4,600 per household, not including hookup fees. Councilwoman Rhodes stated if you don't have an assessment you would prefer to be included. Ms. Haley stated they are about divided, half and half. She spoke about an issue being the design of the plant. There was further discussion regarding a gravity collection system. Page -11- Council Regular Meeting December 20, 1999 IIiW' ...." Sherman Babcock, Economic Development Board, Oak Hill, spoke about westward expansion of Oak Hill. Councilwoman Rhodes stated anyone could have bought that property and not done anything with it, and you still would have had to expand around it. Mr. Babcock commented on the reason Oak Hill has not appealed the permit to the County. They do not have the capacity and the engineering people to challenge that permit. City Manager Hooper spoke about the appeal process. He suggested if they are appealing the process to go to the State and make that approach. The complaints are they don't want the plant or because it is in the western boundary area. Nobody has come in and said this plant has been poorly designed. Mayor Schmidt asked if our Council had any more questions or concerns. He explained they would ask our Council, the County, and then Oak Hill. Councilman Vincenzi asked if we have entered into any type of legal agreement with the County. City Manager Hooper stated yes. Councilman Vincenzi asked how much it would cost the City if we decided to back off. city Manager Hooper explained why he thinks it would be pretty severe. He explained what steps have been taken so far. Councilman Vincenzi stated a lot of their problems are with the County or the permitting process. If they have misrepresented themselves in the construction of the plant or the design, what we do, will not have an affect. city Manager Hooper stated they have started construction and issued a notice to proceed. We have a commitment that when they have their plant open we are going to have flow to get to it. We have to follow that process so when it is open we are there too. Councilwoman Lichter stated if DEP finds something wrong along the way, environmentally, then that is when we would pull back and stop. City Manager Hooper commented on what DEP would do. The plant will be monitored to the same exact level our plant is monitored. Ms. Connors stated there are no issues before Council tonight that are new. This plant has been planned for years. It has been through very rigorous examination and it will continue to be. It will always be monitored in terms of its operation condition and the use of the reuse system. They believe the plant is a good investment. Mr. Kennedy stated the reason the City is involved is because this plant was dead until the City became a customer of this plant. It became an interdeal to save face for the County and to save their loan. Councilman Vincenzi doesn't understand how the City will buy Oak Hill time. Mr. Kennedy stated if the City does not approve the transmission line, that will give them time with DEP and others to put the question in the mind and to get the legality worked out. Each contract the city signs and goes with, puts them one hurdle harder to get to to stop the process if there is something wrong. He doesn't believe Mr. Hooper told them everything. If they decide to get out of this, in the contract all you have to do is give 36 months notice to the County that you will quit at the end of 36 months. Councilwoman Rhodes stated the previous Council made a commitment to the County. Mr. Kennedy asked that the city make no more commitments until they get a chance to show them their facts. Page -12- Council Regular Meeting December 20, 1999 ~ ..",., Mayor Schmidt stated from the very beginning, this council is thinking ahead in the future. We wouldn't be able to expand our plant sitting where it is. From his point of view, he feels this is a great deal for us. Mr. Kennedy explained it is not that they don't want it and they don't want to pay the money, it is they are concerned with the environment. City Manager Hooper explained to Council this is a state problem. They are the only entity that has the authority to do it. They need to address that with the permit. We have cut the best deal we can with the County for a business venture. Mr. Kennedy stated if the city had not become customers and they don't need this, we wouldn't be here tonight. You have brought yourself into this situation by becoming customers for something you mayor may not need in fifteen years, depending on growth. Councilman Brown stated there is no doubt somewhere fifteen years from now, we are going to need a sewer plant in the south part of Volusia County. Fifteen years from now, it is not going to be cheaper to build one. If you compare the cost of rebuilding one that we build now as compared to building the whole thing fifteen years from now, you are still going to come out ahead. We are going to grow. Mr. Kennedy stated you have already spent your money for your growth. Why are you getting involved out of your area? Councilwoman Lichter stated she thinks Mr. Kennedy is getting over a line a little bit when he says we got ourselves into this situation. There is home rule, self protection and an entity of a city called Edgewater. We have to look at it from our viewpoint for the citizens of our community. If it proves to be environmentally unsafe, there are points that will be pointed our and we will be caused to halt. She trusts Mr. Hooper very much and sees his viewpoint. Mayor Schmidt asked if Mayor Bracy or anyone else had any questions. Mayor Bracy thanked the Council for inviting them tonight. He asked the City and County if the plant is supposed to be a third rate plant, the water that is going to have e-coli and other diseases in it that will not be taken out. If it can't be put on the orange groves and it is going to pollute their drinking water, who is going to be liable for their drinking water in the City of Edgewater. This plant is a bare bones plant. They took the scrubbers off the top of the plant that keeps the odor down to save $200,000. They are asking for 90 days to check everything out. Councilwoman Rhodes stated no matter what the City does, they have 90 days. If it is going to cause contamination of a City, she would think they could back right out of that deal and nobody could sue us. Mayor Bracy stated they are going to do their homework and come back in 90 days. This plant is not quite started yet. City Manager Hooper spoke about water quality. Ms. Connors stated they have offered to Oak Hill, at their expense, they would be willing to do a test of the wells in the area. Mayor Schmidt asked if that offer is still on the table. Ms. Connors stated it is still on the table as well as an invitation to Oak Hill to visit the plants they have built twice comparable to this one, which are producing reuse in public access. They are Deltona North and Southwest Regional. Page -13- Council Regular Meeting December 20, 1999 .., w Bob Ielfield, Hacienda Del Rio, thinks this is a sad situation and feels the County does bare responsibility. They have treated the folks in Oak Hill with contempt. Oak Hill didn't find out the plant was going to be changed until they accidentally saw a surveyor. The County didn't even have the courtesy of notifying the city commissioners that they had changed the location of this plant. He spoke of the problem they had with their plant having a bad odor. He wound up filing a complaint with the DEP. They sited the County. The County was forced to do what they should have done months ago. Why should citizens have to go to a state agency to get our own County people to do what they should have done after they made telephone call after telephone call. We shouldn't be fighting with the County, we should be working with the County. He feels the ratepayers of Volusia County are going to pay through the nose for this plant. Mayor Schmidt asked when the next County Council meeting is. Councilman Ward informed him January 6th. He thanked the County and the City of Oak Hill. In a couple of months, if there is enlightening information that they need, they will be more than willing to listen to them again. We are looking at this as a business deal and we also want to be neighborly. We are not against the city of Oak Hill and urged them to come back with any new information. There was a ten-minute recess at this time. CONSENT AGENDA A. Animal Control Board Appointment - Councilwoman Rhodes' appointment to the Board for a three year term to fill the vacancy of Diane Corson, who resiqned Councilwoman Rhodes asked that this item be removed. For whatever reason, one of the applications was not considered by the Board and she would like them to see all the applications before they give her a recommendation. city Manager Hooper agreed to bring this back at the first meeting in February. B. Interlocal Aqreement - requestinq approval of Interlocal Aqreement for Distribution of Additional 5-Cent Local option Fuel Tax, and authorizinq Mavor or city Manaqer to execute document C. Disaster Relief Fundinq Aqreement - requestinq authorization for Mavor or city Manaqer to execute Agreement which provides funds for eliqible disaster relief activities City Manager Hooper made a brief presentation on Items B & C. Councilwoman Rhodes moved for approval of the Consent Agenda, second by Councilwoman Lichter. The motion CARRIED 5-0. OTHER BUSINESS A. Interlocal Water and Wastewater Aqreement - Oak Hill to outline concerns with the Aqreement between Edqewater and the County of Volusia. This item was discussed earlier on the agenda. B. Interlocal Water and Wastewater Aqreement - staff recommendinq approval of Amendment 1 to design, permit and construct the sewer interconnect for an amount not to exceed $440,577 City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. We will not issue a notice to proceed on construction until all the permits are in hand. Page -14- Council Regular Meeting December 20, 1999 .... ~ Councilwoman Lichter asked about the escape clause. City Manager Hooper elaborated on her concerns. Councilman Vincenzi moved for approval, second by Councilwoman Rhodes. The motion CARRIED 5-0. C. citizen Appeal - Kirk Lessiq, aqent for Karl's Kar Kare, requesting city Council review the citizen Code Enforcement Board's denial for lien appeals City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Dennis Fischer, Building Official, further commented on the case and how they came up with the lien figure. City Manager Hooper stated his recommendation to Council is that they find the satisfaction of lien and give the owner 90 days to come in compliance with the City codes as they exist today and not charge for the part he really can't justify. Councilwoman Lichter asked if he is in compliance now. City Manager Hooper explained he is mostly in compliance. Councilwoman Rhodes asked if they could forgive the lien until they are in compliance. City Manager Hooper stated that is what he is trying to say. Mr. Fischer explained he is in compliance of the order that was imposed on him by the Board to construct a spray booth, which he did in a period 72 days late of the order. He commented on complaints they have received over the years but most of it has been brought into compliance. Mayor Schmidt informed Mr. Lessig he had a question. Kirk Lessig, 3311 willow Oak Drive, Karl's Kar Kare, 2335 Guava Drive, stated his name and address. Mayor Schmidt spoke about why he feels this is a unique for the City Council. He wants to hear anything that is left that needs to be done. He asked Mr. Lessig if he felt confident that he would be able to correct anything else that needs to be done in 90 days. Mr. Lessig stated he doesn't know of anything that they couldn't do in 30 days. He spoke to the property owners to the north who are currently with a real estate agent. That contract is up in February. Even if they don't purchase the property to the north of them, he doesn't know what their next step is as far as being in full compliance but he doesn't see a problem with getting there now. Councilwoman Lichter stated she was at that Code Enforcement Board meeting as an observer and she did feel this gentleman was sincere in that he wanted to bring that business into compliance. She spoke about encouraging business in Edgewater. Councilwoman Rhodes asked about overriding Code Enforcement. City Attorney Clayton commented on Statutory procedure. Councilwoman Lichter spoke about when she served on the Planning and Zoning Board and the Council overriding their decision. Councilman Brown asked if they would still charge the $1,944 for costs incurred by the city. City Manager Hooper stated his recommendation is not to because he doesn't have good records over how that came about. In lieu of that, is a motion that would say the Mayor is authorized to execute a satisfaction of lien upon a clean review by the Code Official to say they have come into compliance in no more than 90 days. Page -15- Council Regular Meeting December 20, 1999 ......" .., city Attorney Clayton stated the conditions required for compliance for which lien satisfaction is necessary in order to accomplish. If we release the lien, those conditions have to be fulfilled after it is released. Mr. Fischer stated you could always start code enforcement action again even if you did release the lien. Councilwoman Rhodes stated she has no problem releasing this lien. She does have a problem in the future releasing liens without the City recovering their costs. City Manager Hooper stated that has been addressed and we now have procedures and policies over tracking the City's cost. Councilwoman Rhodes made a motion to grant Karl's Kar Kare satisfaction of lien, second by Councilman Brown. The motion CARRIED 5-0. OFFICER REPORTS City Clerk Wadsworth informed Council the Fire Department has been working on the City's website. It is up and running and the address is cityofedgewater.com. We are going to start putting the agendas and minutes online. She also wished everyone a Happy Holiday. City Attorney Clayton wished everyone a Happy Holiday. city Manaqer 1) Distribute memorandum of qoals and priorities for upcominq city Council work session City Manager Hooper commented on a list of goals and priorities he has come up with for the Council's work session on January 10th. He doesn't want to take anything away from what Council wants to talk about but he gave this to them as food for thought. City Manager Hooper went over a tentative agenda schedule he has set up. Councilwoman Rhodes asked about the responses to the ad for the attorney. 2) Seek Council direction concerninq selection process for city Attorney responses City Manager Hooper informed Council two responses came in today at 2 p.m. They can extend the advertisement, readvertise and go out for a couple more weeks. It was the consensus of Council to extend this. Councilwoman Lichter asked if there is something on the agenda schedule to form some kind of committee to talk turkey with the Manager about salary and terms etc. She feels they should give that some thought for their January 10th goal setting session. city Manager Hooper agreed to put this on the agenda for January 3rd. Mayor Schmidt stated since they have taken over, even before they took over, the attorney has been an issue for all of them on wanting a firm or full-time attorney. He has talked to City Manager Hooper and listened to a lot of different people. Over the next month or month and a half they really don't have any real pending items. He wants to start the new year. He wants the City to start a new year on a real positive strong note. Page -16- Council Regular Meeting December 20, 1999 ~ """ Mayor Schmidt stated the City Attorney spot, he is looking for some opinions from the Council on whether they keep a City Attorney on staff right now or if they decide to come to a mutual agreement where they don't need it they have some counsel in place and they move on. He has thought about this for several weeks. He is to the point, comfort wise, that he would like to bring it in front of the Council to see how the people feel and see if they want to take another step and move forward. Councilwoman Rhodes asked exactly what do you mean by move forward. Mayor Schmidt stated he thinks it is time they sever ties with the City Attorney. We are well into the process now. We have some applications and we also have help if we need it for legal advice. City Attorney Clayton stated that is perfectly fine with me. She wouldn't want anyone to hesitate in accepting the suggestion of the Mayor. Mayor Schmidt stated there have been a lot of comments, suggestions, and name bashing and he wants to get it all done. Ms. Clayton has served us well for the two years and also early in the 90's when she was around. Edgewater is growing and we are growing in a different direction than that City Attorney. He feels within himself that it is time. He wanted to hear some opinions. Councilwoman Rhodes wished it would have been an agendaed item. She would have liked to have been able to give this some thought prior to walking in here at 10:30 at night being asked to make a decision that she really hasn't considered. She didn't think she needed to consider it since they were in the process of looking for another attorney. Councilwoman Lichter stated she thought Mayor Schmidt was going to say something else when he started. She thought he might have said that since they only got two applications in, that maybe we should reconsider the thought of in-house live-in the city. Last time, they did it both ways. She is the one that said they shouldn't be surprised with things at 11:00 at night but her feelings are similar to Mayor Schmidt. Mayor Schmidt stated maybe it should have been an agendaed item. He doesn't consider it a complete surprise because it has been on everybody's mind. Councilwoman Rhodes asked if any of the boards need an attorney. City Manager Hooper stated the Code Enforcement Board is the board that needs the assistance. There are methods to do that. City Attorney Clayton stated you would probably not have that need because Code Enforcement is going to meet after the 17th so if you are going to do any advertising and interviewing you could probably have someone on board. You have in the contract provided for any given Monday the ability to sever those relations and that is the way it was always presented so she is perfectly fine to consider this to be the last meeting she attends. You can call Donna McIntosh to come in on an interim basis. Obviously it is an assistance in her being considered by being familiar with the Council. Councilman Vincenzi stated other than not being an agendaed item, he thinks Mayor Schmidt's comments have some merit. We do have other options open if we need legal assistance. We have a legal staff person. City Attorney Clayton stated she is almost a paralegal. Councilman Brown stated he feels the same as Councilwoman Rhodes does. He would like some time to think about it also. He doesn't know how he would vote if they vote on this this evening. Mayor Schmidt stated if they want to vote on it, he is looking for a motion. Page -17- Council Regular Meeting December 20, 1999 w ... Councilman Vincenzi made a motion, second by Councilwoman Lichter. The motion CARRIED 5-0. CITIZEN COMMENTS/CORRESPONDENCE Mike Visconti, 316 pine Breeze Drive, wished everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and asked Council to keep Edgewater in mind in the Year 2000. Doris Hill, 112 Lincoln Road, commented on the sewer plant. This City went through a lot of turmoil when we built that plant. As a matter of fact, the united Taxpayers, brought suit because the plant had such a huge capacity. It was supposed to serve us for the next 30 years. She has been told that by the time we used all of that capacity that it would be time to build another one anyway because technology would have come so far that it would be obsolete. This deal we entered into, she knows it sounds like a sweetheart deal but it doesn't ring true to her. She doesn't know why when we have the capacity to handle all of this why we are turning it over to the County and what we are doing is we are trading off our water. Our water is the commodity that we have that we can really sell. She doesn't think this is a sweetheart deal. She thinks it stinks. The people down there don't want a sewer system and have been fighting it. She knows for a fact that is the only place you can go and get shell fish. She doesn't see where they are doing any polluting of the water. They don't want sewers but the County wants them to have the sewers. Here we have injected ourselves into that. She doesn't think it is fair. She hopes it comes out alright but has her doubts. She doesn't know what they are saving all of this capacity for. She wished everyone a Merry Christmas. Dominic Capria, 606 Topside Circle, wished everyone a Merry Christmas. He intended to get up while Nikki Clayton was still here but she is not here. They had a hearing December 2nd in Judge wills chamber with their tax case in Edgewater Landing. The judge ruled the city could not intervene but he did rule that a memorandum could be submitted as long as they don't rehash the issues. He is disappointed that nothing was brought up tonight. The deadline for filing was the 16th. Today is the 20tn. He asked what the situation is. city Manager Hooper stated the brief was completed and the brief was filed. Mr. Capria asked what is in the brief. City Manager Hooper stated he would be glad to furnish anybody with that information. The judge directed Nikki to file the brief by a given date. It is not a policy issue, it is a legal issue on which to file. She has filed that. He would be glad to give anyone a copy tomorrow. Mr. Capria stated he would pick it up tomorrow. City Manager Hooper asked the Council if they wanted him to do something about the issue of an attorney in the way of a temporary. He stated there are several. Donna is available to us on an as needed basis. That does not bother him and she has been there whenever we have asked. There are other attorneys that would be able to answer any questions of himself or staff. He is comfortable for a period of time if Council is comfortable for a period of time on using Donna. If we need Donna to be here some night, we will. Otherwise the agreements will continue and will be reviewed by Robin and himself. If he is unsure about something, he will send them to Donna McIntosh unless Council wants him to do something different. It was the consensus of Council for City Manager Hooper to contact Donna McIntosh on an as needed basis. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss councilwoman Lichter moved to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 10:50 p.m. Minutes submitted by Lisa Bloomer Page -18- Council Regular Meeting December 20, 1999