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08-07-2000 - Regular y ~ CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER REGULAR MEETING AUGUST 7, 2000 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 Manager Kenneth Hooper city Clerk Susan Wadsworth Police Chief Lawrence Schumaker Legal Assistant Robin Matusick Lieutenant Bill Britain Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Excused Present Present INVOCATION. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE There was a silent invocation and pledge of allegiance to the Flag. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Reqular Meeting of July 10. 2000 B. Reqular Meetinq of Julv 24. 2000 Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve the July 10th and July 24th minutes, second by Councilwoman Rhodes. The motion CARRIED 5-0. PRESENTATIONS/PROCLAMATIONS/PLAOUES/CERTIFICATES/DONATIONS Mayor Schmidt read a proclamation regarding World War II Memorial Month. CITIZEN COMMENTS Mike Visconti, 316 Pine Breeze Drive, thanked the Mayor and Council for the proclamation. He informed Council what people will get for their donations. He asked Council for a donation. He asked for permission from the Council to erect their sign on u.S. #1 and S.R. 442 for the month of August. He commented on some local businesses that are supporting the World War II Memorial Fund. Councilwoman Lichter stated she contributed before it became an active campaign. She would be for a reasonable donation. She thinks it is a neglected Veterans group. She feels Council should consider a sum that City Manager Hooper thinks they can afford at this time. City Manager Hooper informed Council they also have to address the sign going on public property. Traditionally, the city does not allow any type of signs to go up in public right-of-way. Councilwoman Lichter feels if that would be prohibited and if it would open a can of worms, they could talk about bumper stickers. Councilwoman Rhodes mentioned asking the businesses in that area. He is sure if he asked them they would allow them to put it on their property. """ 'W/I councilman Brown suggested putting the sign in front of city Hall. He was informed City Hall is public property. City Manager Hooper suggested putting it on private property. Councilwoman Lichter would like to give it some thought. City Manager Hooper agreed to place this on the next agenda. Councilwoman Rhodes spoke about contributing to other private, good causes that they deem to be deserving. She doesn't see why this isn't one of those issues. City Manager Hooper explained right now they have an allocation of money for public contributions that is now down to zero. CITY COUNCIL REPORTS Councilman Brown had nothing at this time. Councilman Vincenzi commented on the temporary streets signs. He doesn't care for them. He feels the fact that they are illuminated looks nice at night. He thinks there is too much advertising already around town. He isn't looking at them favorably right now. He asked about their probationary period. City Manager Hooper stated he believes it was a six month period. They were going to look at them and see if they are used. After that time period, Council will come back and make a decision if they like them or not. Councilwoman Lichter agreed and feels elderly people can not read them. Councilman Vincenzi feels if they decide they like that kind of sign in the future, they could look at putting them in ourselves. Councilwoman Rhodes would like to hear more from the public on what they think. Mayor Schmidt had nothing at this time. Councilwoman Rhodes had nothing at this time. Councilwoman Lichter spoke about the kick-off for the Adopt-A- Street tentatively being set for October 28th. She spoke to Jill Geddy from the chamber she suggested they have as part of the Chamber an Edgewater Little Prevention group. She has put together a list of people that are very interested in the litter problem. If anybody else is interested in litter prevention on a yearly basis, they are going to be having their organization meeting in city Hall on August 16th from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Councilwoman Lichter spoke about the Southeast Volusia Humane Society. She spoke to City Manager Hooper way back before the budget was finished about some concerns that constituents were calling her about the Humane Society. They were Edgewater members of the Humane Society. Their complaints were not all relevant to City Council business. She spoke to City Manager Hooper about the money aspect of this. She briefly spoke about some of the complaints. No cruelty was involved. city Manager Hooper sent them a letter requesting an audit. We have not gotten an answer as of today. The City received a letter on July 31st from the Humane Society. They are saying they are having money problems and can no longer come and pick up animals in Edgewater and New Smyrna that have been hit by cars and are lying in the street and that our officers, or whoever would take on that responsibility would have to bring them to the Humane Society. The present set up has been such for a good many years. She feels they should be written another letter saying they are quite concerned and are asking clearly for an audit. A bit firmer and not so polite as the first step. Page -2- Council Regular Meeting August 7, 2000 '-w' ..."", Mayor Schmidt asked if the Humane Society comes under the County. City Manager Hooper explained they are private. He commented on the two letters he sent. He commented on conversations he has had with the County with regard to whether the City is interested in a shared animal control facility that is run by the County. City Manager Hooper stated step one was to ask how many are Edgewater animals and the cost per animal. The last contract they could find was a renewal about seven years ago. There hasn't been a contract in a number of years but there has been an escalator in price up until the last year. They are waiting to hear back on that. Mayor Schmidt asked how they pick their board. City Manager Hooper explained how their board members are selected. He spoke of the staff at the Humane Society. Councilwoman Lichter informed Council she has spoken to Edgewater members as well as New Smyrna Beach members. She expressed concern with the Humane Society not having a veterinarian to check animals. Friends of hers have taken home sick animals. She feels they need to find out about the money. Mayor Schmidt asked how much is given to the Humane Society. City Manager Hooper stated $32,000. Lt. Britain stated he believes it is $27,000. Mayor Schmidt asked if it would be not worth it for them to request to them that they come here so they can talk. City Manager Hooper suggested that could be a step two. Let them send that information. He will look over the numbers and give Council the facts and figures. If they are unhappy with what they see, then have them come in. Finance Director Michele Goins stated she believes the budgeted amount is $1,500 per month. Councilwoman Lichter feels they should demand the financial information. She asked City Manager Hooper to write another letter with stronger language. Councilman Vincenzi asked when the contract comes up for renewal. City Manager Hooper stated they can't find a contract. The last one was eight years ago. City Manager Hooper stated the County pays on the number of animals they deliver. Ours appears to be a flat rate. He is finding differences with other cities. He would like to make them consistent or find out why if they aren't consistent. Mayor Schmidt asked to get a copy of what New Smyrna does. City Manager Hooper stated they are the same as us. Councilwoman Lichter spoke about giving to the Humane Society herself as well as other people she knows that give. Where is this money? Councilwoman Lichter stated they should have a financial report. City Manager Hooper explained they are required to have an audit. Councilwoman Lichter feels they should have a monthly financial report that is available to all of the members. Councilwoman Rhodes questioned if they had that. City Manager Hooper stated they haven't supplied it. He is not sure what authority Council has to request it. It was the consensus of Council to write a letter based on Council's request to find out more information. He agreed to get a copy of New Smyrna's letter from Frank Roberts. They have asked for all other cities that contract with them a copy from the Humane Society. Page -3- Council Regular Meeting August 7, 2000 '-' .."" PUBLIC HEARINGS, ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS A. 2nd Reading. Ord. No. 2000-0-15. Amending and restatina a portion of Chapter 10 (Health and Sanitation) Article V (Weeds. Grass and Brush: Standards for Property Maintenance) City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Legal Assistant Matusick read Ord. 2000-0-15. Mayor Schmidt opened the public hearing. Mrs. Westcott, representing Delbert & Robert Westcott, Unity Tree Drive, objected to the ordinance. She feels it is ridiculous that 20 feet on each side of the property plus the back has to be taken down. If they do that, it is going to look like a mohawk. They can not afford to do this, due to being retired. She asked for Council to think about this. Councilwoman Lichter feels Fire Chief Barlow should explain, after all comments are made, where this came from and the necessity in terms of brush fires. Andy Anderson, Pine Tree Drive, stated the property adjacent to his has never been cut. He feels this needs to be addressed. He would like to see this property trimmed back twenty feet. Mr. Anderson stated there is a lot at 1802 pine Tree Drive that has not been cut. The grass is three feet high. He understands the ordinance to be one foot. Anything over a foot is supposed to be cut by the City and billed to the property owner. That has not been done. Linda stevens, 3214 Silver Palm Drive, has a lot adjacent to them that is untrimmed. She spoke about most of the people being cited living out of state. She would not buy a lot that has a mohawk look to it. She feels that devaluates your property and the upkeep is tremendous. They don't have the money to clear their lot so they have been trying to do it themselves. She has already had to go over it two times. They have a lot of wildlife such as gopher tortoises as well as the endangered scrub jays and she doesn't know that it is legal to take their habitat down. She feels the main problem isn't so much the empty lots but from the woods behind them. She stated it was in the newspaper after the fires that they were going to come by and do a controlled burn and that has not happened. There is one fire break that comes in on 32nd and goes back up toward 30th Street. There is nothing from 32nd down. She wondered why on 34th Street they took the overpass over the canal completely out. The fire trucks could not even get in down there. She feels there should be more paved cross streets on Silver Palm Drive in case there is a fire, so people could evacuate or trucks could get in easier. She feels that needs to be addressed more than these lots. Ms. Stevens asked what exactly, or who, or where is this Volusia County Wildland Urban Interface Wildfire Hazard Assessment Guide. City Manager Hooper explained it is a book. Fire Chief Barlow had one available. City Manager Hooper explained it is a matrix in how you go out and evaluate property. He further explained the process they have used. They are in the process of evaluating the second section of Florida Shores and those notices will be going out in the next week or two. Ms. Stevens stated a house comes up within ten feet of your lot line. If she had a house on that property she wouldn't have to clear more than ten feet from the house to the lot line, why would she have to clear 20 feet on an empty lot. Page -4- Council Regular Meeting August 7, 2000 ...... """"" City Manager Hooper spoke about there being approximately 2,000- 3,000 vacant lots in Florida Shores with some being grouped together and this creating a hazard. Ms. Stevens again stated the real fire danger is the woods behind them and she would like to see more access and more firebreaks back there as well as a controlled burn. Mayor Schmidt asked if that was County. City Manager Hooper informed him yes, that is not our property. Fire Chief Barlow commented on the assessment they are doing on all of the vacant properties. He also expressed concern re&arding the property west of Silver Palm Drive and south of 35t Street. He spoke about this property being out of our jurisdiction. Councilwoman Lichter suggested writing a letter to County Councilman Jim Ward to let him know there is a problem on Silver Palm Drive. He may be able to do something. Councilwoman Lichter spoke about this issue when she served on the prior City Council. Councilwoman Rhodes stated Fire Chief Barlow and City Manager Hooper and everyone else who has looked into this has devised this as the best plan to protect the property of the citizens. Councilwoman Lichter asked if that is to be kept in that condition twelve months of the year or when there is potential high risk of fire. Fire Chief Barlow explained once it is cleared or has vegetation removed it can not grow over three feet. On an improved lot it is twelve inches, on an unimproved lot it is three feet. Ms. Stevens feels that is a big problem. She feels bad for the people that live out of state. They have been trying to clear their lot and already twice she has had to go back. Councilwoman Lichter spoke about this also affecting the insurance rates in the city. Mayor Schmidt suggested if she would like more information, she and Mr. Barlow could get together and for the City to also contact the County to see where they want to stand on it. City Manager Hooper informed Ms. Stevens if she is in the process of clearing a lot she could speak to Lt. Britain who can work out a schedule with her. Lt. Britain informed her to get in touch with Mike McGrath. Andy Anderson, pine Tree Drive, stated the nearest hydrant to his house is over on the next street. He asked how the hydrants are in this town and when are we going to get some more. Chief Barlow stated Mr. Wadsworth on an annual basis is adding several new hydrants. There are individuals that maintain them and flush them once a year. utilities Director Terry Wadsworth explained they do 24 - 30 new hydrants per year. When other projects, contractors have to come in and add new hydrants throughout the city. There are probably 30 - 40 per year added to the system. Because of the way the water grid is set up in Florida Shores, it is impossible to have a hydrant at every intersection unless you added a tremendous amount of additional pipe. It is set up so every other intersection will have a hydrant going north and south. It would cost millions of dollars to go ahead and put additional infrastructure in to have a hydrant at every intersection. Page -5- Council Regular Meeting August 7, 2000 '-' ...., Mayor Schmidt closed the public hearing. Councilman Vincenzi made a motion to approve Ord. 2000-0-15, second by Councilwoman Lichter. The motion CARRIED 5-0. B. 2nd Reading. Ord. No. 2000-0-16. Amending section 11-34 (Bodv Art Code) and Interlocal Aqreement with the Volusia County Health Department city Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Legal Assistant Matusick read Ord. 2000-0-16. Mayor Schmidt opened the public hearing. Due to there being no further comment, Mayor Schmidt closed the public hearing. Councilman Brown made a motion to approve Ord. 2000-0-16, second by Councilwoman Rhodes. The motion CARRIED 5-0. C. 1st Readinq. Ord. No. 2000-0-17. Amendinq Chapter 2 (Administration) bv Repealinq Article IV (Self-Insurance Fund). sections 2-61 throuqh 2-75 in their entirety. City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. This is not cost effective for a city of our size. Councilwoman Lichter stated she understands what they are eliminating but what are they going to get, a private insurance company. city Manager Hooper explained the City has had private insurance since 1996. Legal Assistant Matusick read Ord. 2000-0-17. Councilwoman Lichter made a motion to approve Ord. 2000-0-17, second by Councilwoman Rhodes. The motion CARRIED 5-0. CONSENT AGENDA There were no items to be discussed on the Consent Agenda. OTHER BUSINESS A. Recvclinq Aqreement - staff recommendinq approval to extend the current aqreement for a second two-year term with Southard Enterprises. Inc. ($1.62 per residential unit per month) City Manager Hooper stated the cost has changed to $1.55 since the agenda was put together. He feels the service has been excellent. The recommendation is to renew the contract for the second term. Duke Southard, 1604 Sabal Palm Drive, was available to answer any questions. This is their tenth year with the City. The City is very high on participation. Our tonnage is about 32% of the garbage. Councilwoman Lichter mentioned in the past concerns of Southard's making money on the materials they get from us as well as having to pay for the service. They were informed the money is for operation. Mr. Southard explained what the City pays him is what it costs to pick up the recycling. He further commented on the expenses involved with recycling. Page -6- Council Regular Meeting August 7, 2000 ~ ~ ...", Mr. Southard explained they matched the price of $1.55 that New Smyrna is paying. He explained why Edgewater takes more to recycle than New Smyrna. He spoke about no longer wanting to recycle green glass due to the expense of getting rid of it. He also spoke about recycling phone books. Councilman Vincenzi moved for approval, second by Councilwoman Lichter. The motion CARRIED 5-0. There was a five-minute recess at this time. B. Form a Committee - appoint members and set time frame to study and brinq back to Council recommendations for a future site for city Hall city Manager Hooper made a staff presentation regarding establishing a Committee to chose a future site for City Hall. He recommended Council take off the City employees with the exception of Susan Wadsworth. He also suggested Council keep the Committee between five and seven members, an odd number would be helpful. Once the City employees were removed, there were nine people left. Councilwoman Lichter appointed Christopher Balmer. Councilman Vincenzi appointed Michael visconti. Councilman Brown appointed JoAnne Sikes. Mayor Schmidt appointed Susan Wadsworth. Councilwoman Rhodes appointed Matthew Negedly. Councilwoman Lichter appointed Mike Tanksley. Councilman vincenzi appointed Ferd Heeb. City Manager Hooper explained the Committee will pick general areas in the City for a location. Councilman Vincenzi stated this Committee will not be spending any money, they will be investigating. Mayor Schmidt asked it is a good idea to talk to the cities that have recently built a City Hall. City Manager Hooper stated they can do that but you can also go a step further and acquire the plans. By doing this, you save 60% to 70% of the architectural engineering fees. They will look at some of that once a site is picked out. Councilwoman Rhodes moved to approve the seven member committee, second by Councilwoman Lichter. Councilwoman Lichter stated in Mr. Hooper's original plan, there was thought of an engineer or a realtor. She feels there may be a time they need an engineer, possibly in the form of Mr. Hooper, that might be able to fill in that void. City Manager Hooper agreed to do that. The motion CARRIED 5-0. C. settinq Fees for Copies of Chapter 21 of the Land Development Code - recommendinq a $25 fee for purchase of a hard COpy or CD. City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Councilman Vincenzi suggested putting it on the web to download. City Manager Hooper stated he thinks they are headed there. Councilwoman Lichter moved for approval, second by Councilman Brown. The motion CARRIED 5-0. Page -7- Council Regular Meeting August 7, 2000 ~ "<ttttlI OFFICER REPORTS City Clerk Wadsworth had nothing at this time. Legal Assistant Matusick had nothing at this time. City Manager Hooper informed Council they have a grant for $202,000 from the Water Management District to place money into the reclaimed system. They need authorization for the Mayor or himself to sign and execute this agreement. Councilwoman Lichter asked if Mr. Wadsworth got this or the new person on board. City Manager Hooper explained Mr. Wadsworth made the application through PEC Engineering. Councilwoman Rhodes moved for approval, second by Councilman Vincenzi. The motion CARRIED 5-0. City Manager Hooper asked for Council direction. They currently have in our recreation concession stands two part-time people. He and Mr. Corder are proposing they go out and have volunteers run those so it is not a City function. He asked if Council is acceptable with this idea. Councilwoman Rhodes commented on the way this is done at the Speedway. City Manager Hooper further commented on the way this would work. This would be cost effective. Councilwoman Rhodes suggested that it always be a local volunteer group. It was the consensus of Council to bring this back. CITIZEN COMMENTS/CORRESPONDENCE Andy Anderson, pine Tree Drive, spoke on recycling. He feels it seems strange they are paying to have their recyclables picked up. He commented on how he feels things have changed over the years. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, Councilwoman Rhodes moved to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 8:46 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Lisa Bloomer Page -8- Council Regular Meeting August 7, 2000