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04-17-2000 - Regular ~ .."", ~ CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER REGULAR MEETING APRIL 17, 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 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 A. Reqular Meetinq of April 3, 2000 Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve the April 3, 2000 minutes, second by Councilman Brown. The motion CARRIED 5-0. PRESENTATIONS I PROCLAMATIONS IPLAOUES ICERTIFICATES I DONATIO NS A. Presentation: Mike Pattillo, Ernst & Younq, to present city's Annual Financial Report for fiscal year endinq September 30, 1999 Mike Pattillo, Ernst & Young, thanked City Manager Hooper, Finance Director Michelle Goins and their staffs and commended them for a great job. Mr. Pattillo presented the City'S audit report for fiscal year ending september 30, 1999 and went over the financial overview. City Manager Hooper further spoke about finances. He feels things are in very good condition. Finance Director Michelle Goins introduced the members in her department, as well as Donna Looney and gave them a special thank you for their help. CITIZEN COMMENTS There were no citizen comments at this time. CITY COUNCIL REPORTS Councilman Brown commented on the excellent job done by the Finance Department. Mr. Hooper has also given him information. He was asked about the fire and the brush clean up being done around the City. He told him the Fire Chief is on the job getting those prioritizes and they will be addressed as soon as we get the bids. City Manager Hooper stated they are opening bids for the contractors to clear the lots. Code Enforcement will be sending those notices out. Chief Barlow is out looking for the prioritized areas in Florida Shores. Whenever he has asked any employee of the city for help, they do an excellent job. ... "-" Councilman Vincenzi had nothing at this time. Mayor Schmidt spoke about phone calls he has received regarding the driving down towards the gym back towards Edgewater Elementary. That, at times, becomes a speed alley for people. He expressed concern with what will happen when it gets paved. Chief Schumaker agreed to look into this. Councilwoman Rhodes had nothing at this time. Councilwoman Lichter stated Saturday, April 22nd, there will be a return to the river for the 12th Annual Halifax Indian River Cleanup. They will be meeting at Kennedy Park at 8:00 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. After that they will be meeting at Halifax Harbor Marina for lunch. Councilwoman Lichter spoke about hearings on ECHO grants. One of our projects is one of the grants listed. She listed some dates for ECHO meetings. Councilwoman Lichter informed the Council, Anthony Lewis, the boy they donated $500 to is only $500 away from his $4,000 goal. PUBLIC HEARINGS. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS A. 2nd Readinq. Ord. No. 2000-0-05. Amend Chapter 13 (Personnel) bv repealinq Article IV (Fire Department) of the Code of Ordinances in its entiretv. City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation regarding Ord. Nos. 2000-0-05, 2000-0-06, and 2000-0-09. Legal Assistant Matusick read Ord. No. 2000-0-05. Mayor Schmidt opened and closed the public hearing, due to there being no comments. Councilman Brown made a motion to approve Ord. 2000-0-05, second by Councilman Vincenzi. The motion CARRIED 5-0. B. 2nd Readinq. Ord. No. 2000-0-06. Creation of Chapter 21 (Fire Department - Fire & Hazard Prevention) of the "Code of Ordinances Legal Assistant Matusick read Ord. 2000-0-06. Mayor Schmidt opened and closed the public hearing, due to there being no comments. Councilwoman Lichter made a motion to approve Ord. 2000-0-06, second by Councilwoman Rhodes. The motion CARRIED 5-0. C. 2nd Readinq. Ord. No. 2000-0-09. Amend Chapter 10 (Health & Sanitation) bv repealing Article VI (Burninq of Garbaqe. Trash. Brush. etc.) of the Code of Ordinances in its entiretv. Legal Assistant Matusick read Ord. 2000-0-09. Mayor Schmidt opened the public hearing. Ed Keenan, 1905 pine Tree Drive, stated he was reading through these and some of them you can catch on to what you want and some you can't. He's not too smart on this. He thinks a more serious and possibly lengthier explanation of them would be in order. City Manager Hooper further elaborated on what is being done. Mayor Schmidt closed the public hearing. Page -2- Council Regular Meeting April 17, 2000 'w' ....." Councilwoman Rhodes made a motion to approve Ord. 2000-0-09, second by Councilman Vincenzi. The motion CARRIED 5-0. D. 2nd Readinq. Ord. No. 2000-0-010. Amend Chapter 11 (Occupational Licenses. Taxes and Requlations) of Article I (General) bv amendinq section 11-8 (License Tax Schedule) of the Code of Ordinances. City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Staff recommends approval. Councilwoman Lichter stated under occupations, is body piercing and tattooing considered an occupation. They are not listed here and do not consequently pay anything. City Clerk Wadsworth explained it falls under the professional category and she is going to be bringing an ordinance to Council at the next meeting in reference to the body art. Councilman Brown proceeded to speak with more business people and he has no negative feedback at all about raising this 5%. Mayor Schmidt opened and closed the public hearing, due to there being no comments. Legal Assistant Matusick read Ord. 2000-0-010. Councilwoman Lichter made a motion to approve Ord. 2000-0-010, second by Councilman Vincenzi. The motion CARRIED 4-1. Councilwoman Rhodes voted NO. E. Res. No. 2000-R-08. Request supportinq Transportation Enhancement proiect Application for median landscape proiects and irrigation systems on us #1 and S.R. 442 (grant amount approximatelY $475.000). City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Legal Assistant Matusick read Res. 2000-R-08. Mayor Schmidt opened and closed the public hearing, due to there being no comments. Councilman vincenzi made a motion to approve Res. 2000-R-08, second by Councilman Brown. The motion CARRIED 5-0. CONSENT AGENDA There were no items to be discussed on the consent agenda at this time. OTHER BUSINESS A. Stormwater Manaqement Master Plan - Environmental Services Department reauestinq approval of proposed Scope of Services to be performed by Honeycutt/PEC at a cost of $62.010 ($20.000 of which is eliqible for reimbursement from the st. Johns River Water Manaqement) . City Manager Hooper stated for the record he is part of P.E.C. and made a staff presentation. Deputy Director of Environmental Services Brenda Johnson spoke about being in dyer need of updating our Master Plan due to the c.r.p. and R.I.P. activities. She further commented on P.E.C. looking at our existing areas and our proposed land use areas. They will look at everything from U.S. #1 to Air Park Road, south to 35th Street and north to the city limits. Page -3- Council Regular Meeting April 17, 2000 ~ ~ Mayor Schmidt asked how long these updates will be good for, like another ten year plan. City Manager Hooper explained they are good until major development changes something. Councilwoman Lichter asked if the County has a Master Stormwater plan that we fit into. Have they updated theirs? Ms. Johnson explained yes they do and in conjunction with this, they intend to come up with a Technical Advisory Committee. She has already had discussions with a County representative mostly due to the Gabordy Canal system and the drainage patterns there. Councilwoman Lichter stated that subject came up at the Halifax Task Force and the gentleman speaking was rather negative about the County's plan and that it wasn't the most efficient. She is wondering if they are going to change something in five years and we are working on something for ten. City Manager Hooper explained their plans are usually more general. Councilman Brown asked if this plan will ever show them how they will lower the bills to the people? Ms. Johnson explained part of the management plan, the master plan, is to help them evaluate how their personnel are doing their job, whether they are doing it effectively or not? That could come into play in evaluating this management plan to help them understand their better practices for their best management practices and maintenance activities and how our operations are actually operating. Councilman Brown stated after this is put in place, obviously the bills should go down somewhat, except for just maintenance. Ms. Johnson stated probably not because we are still in debt from the R.I.P. Part of that is being repayed at this time. Councilwoman Rhodes feels if you consistently update the plan all the time in keeping with the changes made in the city, then you wouldn't have to do this periodically. City Manager Hooper stated what she is describing is really a mapping and keeping track of new subdivisions.. Yes, you don't have to update that part. He further commented on changes that would cause retrofitting. Mayor Schmidt stated in a year or two when they redevelop an engineering department, will they be able to do some of this. city Manager Hooper explained it is out of their area. This level of work is really the people that permit big projects such as City and Countywide projects. He doesn't know of any city where their own city's staff engineers do their drainage master plans internal. Dick Martinez, 317 Schooner Ave, asked how long the R.I.P. debt is going to run. City Manager Hooper stated the debt is eleven more years. The stormwater fee is $6, $3 dedicated to debt, $3 dedicated to maintenance. At the end of the eleven year period, he thinks the answer to the question about can it change, that is the first real serious opportunity to change it, is when that debt service runs out. Ed Keenan, 1905 pine Tree Drive, feels the City is lucky to have a ten-year period doing this. He spoke about a master plan he got hit over the head with when he first took office in Ogdensburg that was annual and administrated by the federal government. Councilwoman Rhodes moved for approval, second by Councilman Vincenzi. The motion CARRIED 5-0. There was a five-minute recess at this time. Page -4- Council Regular Meeting April 17, 2000 ~ ~ B. EDI - Soecial proiect Grant - Reauestina aooroval of arant aareement between Deoartment of Housina and Urban Develooment and the city of Edaewater in an amount of $277.500 for uoaradina the gYmnasium comolex to orovide a shelter facility. city Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. He thinks a letter thanking Mr. Mica would be in order. He agreed to draft this. councilwoman Rhodes feels they need to make it clear that if a catastrophic storm hit Edgewater, this shelter would not be adequate. Of course, not much of anything, east of 1-95, would be adequate. There were no citizen comments. Councilman Brown moved for approval, second by Councilman Vincenzi. The motion CARRIED 5-0. C. Comorehensive Plan Update Work Order #1 - Reauestina aporoval and authorization for city Manaaer to sian Work Order #1 for Land Desian Innovations to coordinate and uodate the citv's Como. Plan in an amount not to exceed $48.885.00. City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Mayor Schmidt asked if there is a timetable how long this would last. City Manager Hooper stated the Comp Plans are planned for twenty years and every five years you must update them. It is on a mandated schedule. You can amend them twice a year. One of our real problems is this Comp Plan was adopted in 1992 and has never been amended. Every time we annex a piece of property, they should update it. Every time they change a land use designation or a zoning, there should be a Comp Plan amendment. Councilman Brown stated once this is in place then they can keep after it and keep it up. From now on, we won't have to do this every two years or every three years. City Manager Hooper explained they will adopt one time when it comes in front of them and they will probably have cycles in which every six months you will do Comp Plan amendments that will be staff driven. All of the Comp Plan that is going to be completed will be on disk so when they bring it back all of the maps are there. We are headed there. We are very close right now. It takes time and doesn't go quite as fast as we would all like. Councilman Brown moved for approval, second by Councilman Vincenzi. The motion CARRIED 5-0. OFFICER REPORTS City Clerk Wadsworth stated at the last meeting there was a gentleman that addressed the Council in reference to seeing if there was something they could do about getting information for cable. She contacted Time Warner and they informed her they have a community Bulletin Board that is viewed on Channel 8 from 6 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. In the very near future the City will be posting their activities on the Community Bulletin Board. City Clerk Wadsworth reminded everyone that there is stationary in the back for SR 442 and a list of names and addresses to write to. This can also be found on the City's webpage. Mayor Schmidt thanked City Clerk Wadsworth. Page -5- Council Regular Meeting April 17, 2000 '- ~ Legal Assistant Matusick informed Council we have a pending lawsuit, James Force vs. City of Edgewater, FEC, Halifax Paving and Florida Shores where he was involved in an accident in 1997. In the suit it was alleged the view was obstructed and we had filed a motion to dismiss for a hearing on February 10th prior to our motion to dismiss, he dismissed the case voluntarily. That case is now dismissed at no charge to the City. It was covered by the insurance company. Ms. Matusick stated we got a notice of claim in regards to Carol Lucas that had an accident with one of our pOlice officers. No action has been taken at this time but she is just putting us on notice that she might take action. Ms. Matusick stated she believed City Manager Hooper sent Council a memo in regards to some good news about the legal fees. Today we received our first invoice from Sid Nowell from the Code Enforcement Board and his first invoice for the March meeting was $250. Mayor Schmidt stated so that is about $700 compared to $10,000 give or take a penny or two. City Manager Hooper stated not only that, the system is working. Robin is doing an excellent job of tracking. He only knows of one open lawsuit. We have been able to move those along. He has heard nothing but praise from Foley & Lardner. City Manager Hooper went over a synopsis of the lawsuit regarding Associates of Meadow Lake, Inc. vs. City of Edgewater. He informed Council of options they have at this point. He recommends there be no settlement offer. Mayor Schmidt asked City Manager Hooper if he would like each one of them to give a consensus. City Manager Hooper asked for a motion and second. If that's it, he would like direction to respond that they are not interested in a settlement. If they are interested in having the attorney coming over and talk confidential and then put it on the record after there is no settlement, they could do that process but his gleanings from this Council is they are not interested in a settlement and his recommendation to them is there is nothing to settle. Councilman Brown made a motion that the city's does not give any money to this person for anything. We will fight it in court if necessary. City Manager Hooper stated he is assuming that is direction for him to write him a letter and state that. Councilman Vincenzi seconded. The motion CARRIED 5-0. city Manager Hooper stated on June 15th on the County Council agenda is the contract to remove the Lionfish. Councilwoman Lichter asked about who owns what with regard to Perry Barrett and Meadow Lake. Are we being held up putting a sidewalk that we talked to Meadow Lake residents about on Roberts Road because we don't know who owns the property. City Manager Hooper stated if that belongs to the homeowners association and if there is difficulty in conveying that, eminent domain would occur and we would take the property we would want for the sidewalk. CITIZEN COMMENTS/CORRESPONDENCE Mike Visconti, 316 pine Breeze Drive, commented on Res. 2000-R-04. He asked if it is possible to put the stationary at places of business and have people pick them up and mail them to whoever they need to mail them to. He suggested putting a petition in businesses stating '442 West We Must Go.' Mayor Schmidt stated he has not heard of any business that would not let us hang up something or something like that just to get more of the word out. The more people we can get to write will only add energy to the situation. Page -6- Council Regular Meeting April 17, 2000 'llIw ......, Mayor Schmidt didn't have a problem with putting some of the stationary in local businesses. Paul Jenkins, willow Oak Drive, asked about the five year bond deal on the sewer improvement and the repaving of those roads that they did when they did the sewer. City Manager Hooper stated he thought there was eleven years left on all of it. Mr. Jenkins stated not the bond that we pay, on the guarantee bond. City Manager Hooper stated two years, yes we have past that. Mr. Jenkins stated so the roads we have a problem with, we will have to take care of. City Manager Hooper commented on a meeting they had with the contractor before the bond was up. Mr. Jenkins spoke about a pothole in the road. He went and picked up a piece of the asphalt and it is less than 3/4" thick. City Manager Hooper spoke about the work session that was held with the Planning & Zoning Board. They recommended unanimous approval of the Land Development Code. Council has a work session scheduled for May 8th and May 22nd from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. He commented on the strong areas Council will hear about. Mayor Schmidt asked about the canopies. He asked if there is any way they can get data on those. City Manager Hooper stated yes. Councilwoman Lichter also asked for information on what other cities do. City Manager Hooper stated they have both. Doris Hill, 112 Lincoln Road, asked if there is legal implications when you take a City the size of Edgewater and you've had one set of rules and you change it so drastically that it might impact people in a very negative way. This is a river community. Many people own boats as well as recreational vehicles. She asked what Council is going to do with these people that have recreational vehicles and you are going to tell them they have to find someplace else to park them. She urged Council to think about that. It's one thing to do something that is going to make the City aesthetically better but how can you take away people's property rights. She thinks when this comes before council they need to give that some thought. She would think there are legal ramifications there. City Manager Hooper stated there are certainly strong issues there but from a legal prospective, community standards is what you are describing and that rests with this board and how they go about it is uniform application of those standards community wide. He spoke about Florida Shores not having any viable deed restrictions. city Manager Hooper spoke about options and there being a lot of things to consider. It's going to be a tough issue to deal with, no doubt. Mayor Schmidt stated he would like to hear from a lot of those people who this will affect. City Manager Hooper stated he has received calls from people asking if the Council would be willing to entertain a Saturday type public meeting. He feels this would be a good opportunity to be able to get the input from the people who own recreational facilities. Paul Jenkins spoke about the newspaper reporting this would be brought before Council and the people asked to attend. He went on to speak about canopies. He doesn't feel there is a legitimate safety issue with the tarps. He further spoke about these tarps being in front yards. Mayor Schmidt suggested shooting for a Saturday meeting somewhere between the two work sessions scheduled. City Manager Hooper stated they could do that or wait until they get the public input on those two and then hold one additional. Page -7- Council Regular Meeting April 17, 2000 ..... ....." ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, Councilwoman Rhodes moved to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 8:39 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Lisa Bloomer Page -8- Council Regular Meeting April 17, 2000