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01-22-2007 - Joint Workshop w/Economic Development Board CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER JOINT WORKSHOP ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BOARD JANUARY 22, 2007 6:00 P.M COMMUNITY CENTER MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Mayor Thomas called the Workshop to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Community Center. ROLL CALL Mayor Michael Thomas Councilwoman Debra Rogers Councilman Dennis Vincenzi Councilwoman Harriet Rhodes Councilwoman Judith Lichter City Manager Jon Williams City Clerk Susan Wadsworth Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Chairman Robert Lott Tim Howard Douglas McGinnis Marcia Barnett Robert Overton Oscar Zeller Eric Caplan Jerry Anderson Bob Williams Present Present Present Present Present Present Absent Absent Present MEETING PURPOSE The purpose of the meeting was to discuss changes or modifications to the goals of the Economic Development Board's adopted Program of Work. Mayor Thomas asked Robert Lott, Chairman of the Economic Development Board, to start off with the questions. Mr. Lott thanked the City Council and the Clerk for giving them the opportunity to discuss their vision for the future of the City. They serve at Council's pleasure and are a voluntary board. They are an appointed Board and their "charter" is to do the Council's bidding. They need to know what the Council would like them to do. They have had a lot of changes in the past twelve months and wanted to get a clear, concise public view from each of the Councilmembers as to what their vision of the City was. He wanted specifics from Council and 1 Council Workshop January 22, 2007 told them to feel free to go off the chart. He thought in order to be more productive that they would give them some talking points and some of the concerns they had that they didn't know what to do with. He asked the Council what their vision would be for the 1-95 interchange, the SR 442 corridor being the main entrance into the City, the proposed Williamson Boulevard extension and the u.s. #1 redevelopment. Mr. Lott commented on the restrictions they have had recently. He wanted to know where the 35' height minimum stood and what their options were. They saw that the City Council granted some vested rights to people who had already signed PUD's and they heard from legal counsel that they don't have the authority to do that because of it being a Charter revision. He asked for clarification on what effect that would have on existing projects such as ParkTowne as well as the existing PUD's. He also asked what effect that may have on the SR 442 corridor and the 1-95 interchange and what kind of opportunities they saw in those areas. Mayor Thomas commented on having already met with them and them knowing his feelings on this. He informed them when he spoke with them that he could not speak for the whole Council. He stated they would go in voting order of the Council for discussion, starting with Councilman vincenzi. He felt what they needed to do tonight was having some healthy discussion and to give the Board the vision of where they were going. Councilman vincenzi felt the vision of this Council as well as previous Councils has been to try and get a mix of residential and business into the City in order to balance out the tax burden and not have most of the tax burden on residential and have it shift over to business, which he felt was the ideal thing in any town. He felt this meeting should have been held after their meeting on the 26th and mentioned if they needed to they could have another meeting. Mr. Lott informed him he'd rather go to a meeting in unison. Mr. Lott asked where they stood on the 35' height cap and what the total effect was. He asked if this had been indoctrinated into our Charter. According to the Charter, there can be no structure built within the City limits of Edgewater over the height of 35'. The Council recently gave permission to developers in ParkTowne because they had vested rights so to speak and he was told as a body they did not have the authority to do that. He asked if this was true or not? Councilman Vincenzi informed him he didn't think the Attorney said that. He thought the Attorney made a comment about the ruling the Council made in reference to ParkTowne. The thing about granting vested rights to existing PUD was something totally different. He didn't think she commented on that. 2 Council Workshop January 22, 2007 Mayor Thomas informed him she did. Councilman vincenzi asked if that was on the existing PUD's. City Manager Williams said that with the Resolution that was passed during the last Council meeting, the Council identified all of the existing PUD agreements that were in place as of the approval of the height limit. Councilman vincenzi said that there was a comment from the Attorney about the decision that they made about ParkTowne, which said that that's an existing PUD also and buildings over 35' are more appropriate in there and that they decided that was a parcel of land that was exempt. He felt the lawsuit that Mr. Zeller had was going to probably settle that question. If he wanted an answer now he didn't know if anyone could give him an answer. Mr. Lott asked if it was up to the courts to decide this and not the Council. Councilman vincenzi felt for ParkTowne he guessed it was. As far as he was concerned ParkTowne is exempt and if people that move in there are not happy with that and they have a right to be skeptical, then it would proceed through the court and the judge would make a decision. Mr. Lott then asked about PUD's outside of ParkTowne. If they ~ere already signed were they exempt? Councilman vincenzi commented on voting on that and the Council all said yes. He felt as far as any other building in the City that the Charter amendment should hold for that. Mr. Lott felt it was important to get the information out before they started a discussion because that's when they confirm the vision for the 1-95 interchange, the SR 442 corridor and those other opportunities that they have. He assumed at this point that any new development that does not already have a PUD in place would be restricted to the 35' height limit. He felt it was important that they quantify that particular item before they move forward because it will have significant impact on how their vision translates into some of these very critical areas that they are going to have in the future. Councilman vincenzi said that he would assume that nothing over 35' for now. In the next year most of them feel it should be addressed again in front of the voters to get exemptions for businesses, hospitals, schools and that had to be defined in the upcoming months. Mr. Lott asked if Council intended at this point in time to have discussion to possibly go back because they have the authority as Council to request changes in the Charter and place them on a ballot so that would be appropriate. Councilman vincenzi stated he intended to discuss it. Mr. Lott then asked if they wanted to continue on with the 1-95 interchange, the SR 442 corridor, the downtown area for Edgewater, and u.s. #1 re-development. He asked their thoughts on what the City 3 Council Workshop January 22, 2007 would like in 25 or 30 years. That was what the Board was going after. Mayor Thomas suggested the next question be addressed to Councilwoman Rhodes so they didn't have Councilman Vincenzi under the gun all at once and then they could come back and rebut that. Mr. Lott informed Mayor Thomas that the Board wanted to know, as Council and a unified group, what they wanted them to do and where they should go from here. He said Mayor Thomas said he'd prefer them to go after little mom and pop businesses to create that economic structure in the City. He said Eric Caplan felt that would not provide the tax base necessary to do the things that Councilman vincenzi spoke about earlier. He felt they needed to expand on that. Mayor Thomas went back to the question about the City Attorney and said she was very pleased with the cognizant decisions they made as a Council to go forward or exempt the PUD's that were placed in effect, the signed agreements that were signed prior to the November 7th election and she felt that a court of law would uphold that and she felt that it probably would go to a court of law. Mr. Lott felt that made sense and it truly was the right thing to do but he felt the proper procedure would be that the courts would have to make that determination at this point. Councilwoman Rhodes said there was language in place in the Charter amendment that provides for businesses that have already been vested. It was up to the Council to determine what vested meant as far as those businesses were concerned. They did that and the attorney thinks that's the way to go. Now, no matter which way they go, they could have somebody sue them and say they don't have the right to do that and then yes, a judge would make that determination but for right now they made the determination that if they have an existing contract, PUD with the City; if they are in ParkTowne, then they are exempt. Mr. Lott stated if they had an existing signed PUD they are also exempt. Councilwoman Rhodes informed him even before the Charter amendment passed this Council put it in the Land Development Code. Mr. Lott informed her he understood and that he believed they were beyond that question and they were now talking about vision. His understanding was they could only go 35' high on any new development. He asked Councilwoman Rhodes what her vision was for the City of Edgewater and what would this City look like 15 or 20 years from now. Councilwoman Rhodes informed him her primary goal was to make whatever development happens self-sustaining. If 6,000 homes come in west of 1-95, she wants there to be grocery stores, doctors' offices, etc. so those people don't have to travel into Edgewater to get the services they need. That's a big one for her because she thinks it mitigates 4 Council Workshop January 22, 2007 some of the impact of these developments. She then commented on the corridor study that was done for SR 442. In that study, the homes along Indian River as they are sold are able to be used for commercial purposes such as doctors' offices, things of that nature. She thinks the Board's plan for aircraft, boating and medical businesses was a great plan and that is what they are looking for. They are looking for clean industry that provides well paying jobs. She didn't know that the mom and pop businesses would provide the income that people need to survive. She was not adverse to having a WalMart, Lowe's, home Depot or Applebee's or something of that nature west of 1-95 but that it would be difficult under the 35' height rule. She feels they need to value this community and she thinks they need to set a price on this community that is not cheap. Mr. Lott commented on the Summit of the Cities that is done once a year with South Daytona, Port Orange, Edgewater and Oak Hill and they've discussed the future of all those cities and how they affect one another. One of the projects they talk about quite a bit is the Williamson Boulevard extension and the north/south corridor along 1- 95. One of the things that Port Orange has done is they are in the process of creating a high tech corridor that includes optic fiber and wireless opportunities, which is what they envision happening on the williamson Boulevard extension as it extends down the west side of 1- 95. He feels this would attract some very high end businesses into the area and it would require some fairly large buildings. He then commented on software development and high tech companies that need a footprint where they could put a lot of people so that's one area where the 35' height limit is going to significantly impact us in the future. He didn't think it would have a significant impact in the next 4 or 5 years with the exception of the Bert Fish facility. When he said a vision he was talking about some high end jobs. He was talking about people who are making $60,000, $70,000, $80,000 and sometimes into the 6 figures that want to come here to live because they can and because they have the opportunity. Mr. Lott then spoke about creating a downtown area for Edgewater, which he felt they needed. He commented on discussion regarding whether it should be ParkTowne and u.S. #1 or the SR 442 corridor. He felt these were items for discussion. He felt if they used the tools that are out there they could do a heck of a job. It's a little easier to develop a downtown area in a place that is not developed rather than re-developing one. He felt they needed to talk about if they wanted to develop a CRA. He spoke of New Smyrna doing this very well and the large amount of revenue they get out of that. He wanted to know specifically what the City would look like and if they were going to have mixed use areas which were more popular. The old Euclidian way of zoning, which is what they're doing, is in the past and it was necessary in 1926 when it was developed but that's no longer the case. They no longer have factories, which was why it was initially invoked. He spoke of separating out where industry will be, 5 Council Workshop January 22, 2007 where residential would be, where retail would be. He spoke of Venetian Bay being an example of what they could do. He felt they could do more on the industry side, which they haven't done. He asked Council if they were familiar with the Smart Code manual, which gives them very succinct, identifiable and quantifiable parameters that they could apply to different areas of the City. They could use this to develop the Land Development Code in conjunction with one of these plans and they could build a very nice community but it takes some foresight and it's not easy. It takes an awful lot of work and discussion. He would like to see a planning committee get together and hammer one of these things out. He commented on this going back to the time when they used to be able to walk where they wanted to go. They were spoiled with the automobile and they ended up planning cities with the automobile in mind. If they want a transient society who uses automobiles to get from point A to point B then they want to work on the road infrastructure. If that's not what they want to have happen they could create a community that doesn't require the use of a vehicle in many of the areas. They want to start dialogue and they want to see what the City was going to look like in twenty years. Councilwoman Lichter informed Mr. Lott she agreed with Councilman vincenzi on the workshop that they were having on Friday, an all day workshop which no doubt they are paying for with an experienced person so they can give birth to and develop it in a manner in which he wants to lead them, some more in-depth perspective of what they see with their goals, ambitions and dreams. She wasn't quite prepared tonight. She further commented on one of her dreams having more of a historical emphasis with the center of Edgewater. She spoke of this being where Edgewater started and why it was originally named Hawks Park, after Dr. John Milton and Esther Hawks. Right next door to City Hall is the building that they lived in, which was still there. She then commented on having two places in mind for City Hall someday, one of them being right here on the property where it is currently located with little shops and little quaint things and the Hawks house that should go with it on the existing piece of property. She felt perhaps it could go across the street with some kind of connection or overpass. Certainly there should be more historical things in the City that are identifiable and recognizable such as tours, etc. It's what attracts as well as industry, money and people to come and see things. She then commented on City Hall being on the horse farm property on Indian River Boulevard. She feels it is a beautiful location and if they can't get the school for some reason, this location would be her second choice. She then questioned if they were obligated to the 35' height limit with schools. She felt legally they had to look into that because they were told that certain things were excluded. She questioned whether a hospital or school really fell under the height limit. Mr. Lott pointed out they couldn't have a gYmnasium or auditorium if they have a school under 35'. Councilwoman Lichter felt there were obvious problems. She would like a few more 6 Council Workshop January 22, 2007 things to be exempt than are on the books, including hospitals and schools. Councilwoman Lichter then spoke of teaching kindergarteners for 28 years that would build with blocks and some would stack them high and some would stack them low, which she feels is creative. She feels creativity in a development is important. But if for the moment builders want to go on and they can't have creativity, they could at least have a variety of housing that would accommodate the middle class, working class people, single people, and families. Councilwoman Lichter then commented on how she felt about williamson. She spoke of going to every meeting the State had about williamson. She spoke of a project in Deland that was beautiful and in the middle of it a road cut through. She felt Williamson shouldn't stop development and that it should go through so it could become another north/south corridor. She agreed with Councilwoman Rhodes that the development should be self sustaining. Inside it could be cutesy with nice little shops and stores but outside on that boulevard that could go through it would be nice to have businesses on both sides and those businesses would pay for the road that would go through. Mr. Lott then commented on an article in the newspaper about the development that was planned in New Smyrna for an assisted living facility. He spoke of it being part of the Port Orange project. He felt that was something that was sorely needed in this area. He spoke of the facility already being full and it hadn't even been built yet. Bert Fish was planning on putting something of that nature on some property in Edgewater and he was sorry to see that the newspapers chose it not be newsworthy but when Mr. Williams said that the plan was on hold because they couldn't build it in the footprint that fits with the new Charter, that didn't make the paper. Councilwoman Lichter stated Charter's come and Charter's go and they change every so many years and cities go forward and cities go backwards. She felt SR 442 has been going forward. She felt the entrance and the medians looked beautiful compared to what they looked like before. She commented on the definite plan for SR 442 to include professional buildings, doctors' offices, etc. in some of the homes. She further commented on the plan and there being different things in different areas on SR 442. She felt that should be revisited. Councilwoman Lichter then commented on small businesses. She feels they are losing something. She spoke of helping and not neglecting what's already here such as the businesses on Hibiscus and Guava. Mr. Lott agreed with that and asked her how they would go about doing that. Councilwoman Lichter suggested they try and get them together and talk about what they need. She feels there are some unique, different kinds of businesses there that people need in a community. 7 Council Workshop January 22, 2007 She also feels there are other businesses in Edgewater, not just in the industrial park, that have value to them. Mr. Lott asked the Council if they were aware that there was another citizens' initiative that was being promoted in Edgewater, which would restrict one dwelling unit per 20 acres permitted for land west of 1- 95. Mayor Thomas felt that would be a smart thing because of the amount of wetlands out there. Mr. Lott asked Mayor Thomas if he was in support of this citizens' initiative. Mayor Thomas informed him he would support that. Mr. Lott then commented on Mayor Thomas supporting the Restoration project and the Council voted to approve the PUD for the one south of Restoration. Mayor Thomas informed him he was talking about two different pieces of land. The McCaskill property, Reflections, is high and dry. He's been allover that property and when he was talking about the Restoration project, there are about 40% wetlands out there. Mr. Lott asked about the project just south of that on the other side of SR 442. Restoration used to be called the Hammock Creek project. He was referring to the one south of that. Mayor Thomas informed him that was Reflections and that was an entirely difference piece of property that was west of 1- 95. Mr. Lott stated that project calls for a little bit more density than one home per 20 acres. Mayor Thomas stated and that can afford it. Mr. Lott was confused. He thought he heard Mayor Thomas say that would be a very good thing. Mayor Thomas stated that had already been approved. Mr. Lott asked Mayor Thomas if his vision would be anything west of 1-95 should be ranchettes. Mayor Thomas stated not anything. It depends on the property. If it's wetlands, then no, but if it's high and dry and buildable, that's fine. Mr. Lott stated his question was if he was aware of the citizens' initiative. Mayor Thomas informed him he was not aware of it. Mr. Lott stated but yet he wanted to support it because he thought it would be a good thing. Mayor Thomas stated it would be a good thing on the property where wetlands exist. Mr. Lott wanted to know for his own clarification if any of the Council supported the citizens' initiative. Mayor Thomas informed him he would like to read it. Councilman vincenzi said he wouldn't even comment on it until he knew more about it. This was something he felt Mr. Lott was throwing at everyone out of the blue. Nobody knew about it, nobody has read it, and nobody knew what it said. Mr. Lott stated he was not an elected official. He was just an ordinary citizen and he knew about it. Councilman Vincenzi asked him to pass it around so they could see it. Mr. Lott informed him all they have to do is pay attention. Councilwoman Rogers wanted to talk about the 35' height limit and ParkTowne. It was her understanding that the Attorney was going to be coming back and giving them some legal advice on that even though they did what they did at the last meeting. They are probably going to have to have a judge give them a determination on that so that it would be done and over with so that the final decision would be made 8 Council Workshop January 22, 2007 and they won't have to worry about people coming at them. She had a copy of the ParkTowne development agreement that she had been reviewing because she wanted to make sure that they didn't step on anyone's toes by doing what they did at the last meeting. They have an attorney that is going to be giving them advice and that is her expertise. As far as the 1-95 exchange corridor, the only thing that was actually going to happen was Reflections, which had been approved. The Hammock Creek, now known as Restoration, they were meeting individually with Mr. Mears between now and January 29th. At the end of that day they will have a 30 minute meeting with Mr. Mears and he will be giving them an update as to what the plans are. As far as their vision for that area, she wanted to hear what those people had to say. The Restoration people are the largest stakeholders in Edgewater right now and what they do is going to definitely have an impact on Edgewater. The way the Restoration project has been presented to them in the past sounds like it will be sustainable. That's not a new word, it's something that's been out there, they've been talking about it and that sounds great because they're trying to convince them that they're not going to have the traffic impacts on this side of 1-95 because it will be sustainable but her concern was what they have here now. She then spoke of growing up in the Altamonte area in her senior years of high school and there being an area that was developed at one point and very popular. When new areas started to get developed because it was new and it is cheaper to develop in a new area versus redeveloping because of the construction costs. She recalled a lot of buildings becoming vacant and it becoming an eyesore. Then all these new areas got developed and were beautiful but anyone who owned buildings or property in the areas that were neglected, those buildings became drug hangouts. She doesn't want that to happen to the u.S. #1 area. She then commented on there being nice businesses on u.S. #1 where people have come in and cleaned up the buildings. She mentioned the work Mr. Visconti had done to his building by making it look very nice and presentable. She feels that is what u.S. #1 should look like. She then commented on medical, aircraft and boating. She felt medical was an obvious with the elderly people in this area. She spoke of traveling to Orlando to go to her dentist because she hadn't found a dentist in this area that she could trust. She feels attracting medical personnel is important. She asked Mr. Lott if he had attracted any medical personnel into the Edgewater area. Mr. Lott stated what their Charter is and what they were trying to do was try to present to the outside world a picture of Edgewater that would entice these individuals into our City. They just got started on their Program of Work before the 35' height limit hit. They wasted four months messing around with that. They had developed literature that was capable of going out to different communities, different trade shows and they were in the process of putting together the medical and aviation. They were just getting off the ground. They feel like they want to keep going forward. He then commented on the 9 Council Workshop January 22, 2007 feedback he received from Jerry Anderson and Eric Caplan, who could not attend the meeting. Mr. Anderson said if they are going to do aviation, 35' when they are talking about hangars with businesses above them, they're not going to be able to make it. They have a little bit more serious problem in that the airstrip is a little too short and that is something that will need to be addressed but they could also use New Smyrna's airstrip if they needed to. Mr. Lott spoke of trying very hard to attract business but the rules keep changing on them. Councilwoman Rogers informed him the 35' height had just come out. Mr. Lott informed her it wasn't just the 35' height. It's the entire attitude of the City. They are not painting a very good picture. They talk about developers like they are the 3rd Reich. These guys are not evil. They build things because people buy them. If people didn't buy them, they wouldn't build them. It's their job to make sure they build within the confines of what they want but they need to tell them that. Councilwoman Rogers felt there were things that they need and things that were going to happen but it's got to be a majority decision of the Council. She feels they need a City Hall desperately as well as an expanded library. They have in their hands the capabilities to get these developers to do what they want them to do plus appeasing them so they can arrive at what they want. She doesn't like the idea of developing west of 1-95 or of destroying the wetlands. She believes the Army Corp of Engineers, St. Johns River Water Management District and all these other agencies are going to do their jobs. There are some projects right now that are held up in the City of Edgewater. They have these tools. They have these developers and they have their money. The City doesn't have the money and there are a lot of things they are dreaming of and want and they can talk all they want but if they don't have the money they can't go forward. So here they have a developer who just spent a ton of money on a bunch of property who needs to develop it and she would say he needs to develop it more than they need him to develop it so they can use that to their advantage. She feels they should push the buttons and then they should come up with what they want. On the top of her agenda right now is City Hall and fixing u.S. #1. If they are going to make their area self sustaining then they've got to keep our area attractive for those of us that live here. She doesn't want to have to drive west of 1-95 for certain services. She then commented on big box stores. She doesn't want a WalMart in Edgewater. She feels it attracts a certain group. She wanted stores such as Target, Panera Bread, and Lowe's. She was eating at Panera Bread and she was having a conversation with a gentleman that practically owns the place and he told her all he hears about is Daytona Beach and New Smyrna. She started talking to him about Edgewater, which he had never heard of and he told her he was thinking of New Smyrna for Panera Bread and she told him to come to Edgewater. Edgewater's got the largest stakeholder out there right now looking to develop and expand their properties and he took her card and he will call and when he does she would turn him on to the 10 Council Workshop January 22, 2007 Council. She feels those kinds of businesses will attract people that want to be near those places for the frequency that they will go to visit them. Mr. Lott agreed with almost everything Councilwoman Rogers said. He feels one thing they need to be wary of is he doesn't want to be dealing with developers once they already have the property and they're coming to them to develop it. He would like to see a plan. He would like to see a map that the City Council, the P & Z and the City Planner all agree on. This is what they want their City to look like. This is where they're going to put their mixed use. This is what it is going to look like and here are the actual restrictions. No building over this height. No building that services more than these many people. So many parking spaces, etc. He feels they can do this. It's not undoable. Councilwoman Rogers stated the 35' height that came out, they know what happened there. They know that their intention was not the public and semi-public and the hospitals. They know that and that can be fixed but at the same time they don't have anyone knocking on their door saying they want to do this. If they had that, it would motivate some people to do something. Mr. Lott informed her when she gives him this gentleman's card and he comes to see him and asked what they have for him, he would like to be able to show him a picture of what this town's going to be and that he's going to be a part of that. Councilwoman Rogers felt he was going to look at numbers which is disgusting to her. She referred to a report they had with a list of commercial projects and residential projects and their status. She commented on residential projects that started before she was elected that haven't broke ground yet. With all these people that are going to come to this City, they need these people to get the fire under their butts so they can get going and they can start having commercial businesses wanting to come in here. Based on the report, she questioned where the commercial permits and businesses were. They need both but if they've already approved residential and they haven't even started she had a problem with that. She felt it was a waste of resources. Mr. Lott asked what they are doing to attract those people. Councilwoman Rogers stated they have some developments approved. It is a slow process. Some of the things Mr. Lott had as far as questions, some of it had been sitting around for a long time and this was the first time the Economic Development Board has come to Council asking them what their vision is, the January 3rd meeting and tonight. That was basically it but these other developments that are sitting there stagnant; she didn't see any attraction for getting any economic development coming into the City to help that. Those people aren't motivated to do those projects. She didn't know where it was stopping but she does know they are working towards it. They have a new City Manager and everybody on Council was working on particular items and 11 Council Workshop January 22, 2007 she felt by the Board coming to the meeting tonight, it's going to help put fire under them too. Mr. Lott stated these things take a lot of time. They have to plan 10 to 12 years ahead. That's what they are doing. That's what they've been doing for the last three or four years. They've been going to the Summit meetings. They've been communicating with the other cities. They've been talking about how they are going to create an atmosphere that will bring in the higher end businesses that they need and they can't do that overnight. He knows ParkTowne is not the answer for that but it's a good interim project that they should have been working on. He then expressed concern about the 1-95 and williamson Boulevard area. He feels they really need to pay attention to that now. Mr. Lott then wanted to give any of the other Board members the opportunity to air any of their concerns. Mayor Thomas stated if they would like to talk he would give them a few minutes and then he would make his comments when they were finished. Bob Williams, CEO, Bert Fish, Economic Development Board member, made a suggestion to Council that as they go into their strategic planning session and look at what they are going to do with all the issues they are faced with and the issues the Economic Development Board was faced with. As he understands it a few years ago the southeastern hospital district and the City of Edgewater got together and said Edgewater residents and citizens would like health care closer to home so they didn't have to travel to New Smyrna Beach. There is acreage that sits down on U.S. #1 across from Boston Whaler and they've done some work with that property such as environmental studies and some engineering and they have had some dialogue with the City over the last couple of years. The Board at Bert Fish just recently completed its strategic planning initiatives and they do have health care type facilities that they are looking at in conjunction with Edgewater because of that interest from Edgewater's standpoint. As they go into their strategic planning he told Council to keep in mind that Bert Fish is attempting to do what the City wanted as far as bringing health care into the City. As they look at those kinds of constraints as Councilwoman Rogers had indicated that things can be done about some of those from a public standpoint or a health care standpoint. He feels it would be very difficult for a health care facility like Bert Fish to build within the constraints that are currently there. Hospitals in contrast to residential sites and even business sites have to have more vertical space per floor because of all of the infrastructure and gases and the oxygen and so forth. The hospital in New Smyrna has four stories and each of those stories have 25' so even a two story type of health care facility couldn't even be built today in Edgewater. It is unfortunate that at the moment that they are on hold 12 Council Workshop January 22, 2007 with what they might do on that property. He offered any assistance they could give them as they start down the strategic planning road, they would be more than happy to work with the Council. Mayor Thomas stated they have to look at why they live in Edgewater. He feels it is their safe quality of life. He grew up in Orlando when Orlando was a quality place to live. He had to make a decision to move from where he lived. Nobody likes to move from their hometown. He was stationed in New Smyrna which was not far from Edgewater and he fell in love with Edgewater and moved here because of the quality of life that Edgewater provides. If he wants to go to WalMart he goes to New Smyrna. If he wants to go to the mall he goes to Daytona and people realized when they moved here about the quality of life and he thinks they saw that on the ballot with 51% of the voters. The City Council voted 3 to 2 to put it in the Land Development Code that way they would have the opportunity that when a hospital did come in, they could give them a variance but the people didn't see it that way. They voted 51% that they wanted the 35' height cap. They voted 60/40 for no exceptions. He thinks they were sending the message to them to strengthen them. They wanted their quality of life. He then commented on high paying jobs. Orlando is only 60 miles away and he doesn't know how they can afford those big houses but they are making that money. He then spoke about the quality of life in Orlando now with the rapes, the murders, the stabbings, and the car accidents. He doesn't want that in Edgewater. The people of Edgewater have spoken and they are going to have to deal with that. He doesn't want to entice anybody to come here. If somebody wants to come here and start a business then that's fine with him. They've got rights and they've got a right to develop their land as they want to. Right across the street is one of their beauties and it's going to be their future. He then expressed concern with the eco system in the river, the Indian River Lagoon. The more people they get here the more runoff that's going to go over there and then that's going to die and they are going to die with it. He then commented on running for Mayor because he wanted to protect his quality of life. He likes Edgewater as the charming little City that it is. He knows he can't stop growth but he can make sure it's done correctly. Mr. Lott wanted clarification that Mayor Thomas didn't want to entice any business into the community. He asked what they want the Board to do. They're here at Council's pleasure. He asked if they wanted them to go out and try to get business to come here or not. They will do whatever the Council wants them to do. If they are saying don't do it, they'll save their time. He has something else he could do for one hour that morning and he will go and do that. Mayor Thomas informed him that was just his opinion and that there were four other people on the Council and he heard from them. 13 Council Workshop January 22, 2007 Mr. Lott informed him he still felt like he didn't know what they were supposed to do. Councilwoman Lichter stated they gave enough things to start working on now such as small businesses, historical, the river. There's plenty to do and they want to go Friday to this workshop all together and see what they come up with. Five different people have five different ideas and slight variances. Her opinion is to keep going with the goals and objectives they have now and they will see what they can do. Five different people with different backgrounds and different ideas but they were trying to get a consensus that was a compromise of all of it. Mr. Lott stated it would be very help to them if they could get a committee together or they'll work with the Councilmembers. They will work with P & Z. They will help as much as they can but if they could paint a picture that would allow them to take to these businesses and show them what the City is going to look like. If they want to be here fine. If they can't live with that then that's fine too but he requested they paint that picture. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, the Workshop adjourned at 6:50 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Lisa Bloomer 14 Council Workshop January 22, 2007