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10-18-2010 - Regular • CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER REGULAR MEETING OCTOBER 18, 2010 6:00 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS MINUTES 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Thomas called the Regular Meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers. ROLL CALL Mayor Michael Thomas Present Councilwoman Debra Rogers Excused Councilwoman Gigi Bennington Present Councilwoman Harriet Rhodes Present Councilman Ted Cooper Present City Manager Tracey Barlow Present City Clerk Bonnie Wenzel Present City Attorney Carolyn Ansay Present INVOCATION, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE There was a silent invocation and pledge of allegiance to the Flag. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES There were no Minutes to be approved at this time. 3. PRESENTATIONS /PROCLAMATIONS /PLAQUES /CERTIFICATES /DONATIONS A. Presentation by David Bubb, Director of the Regional Communications Center, on contingency transport services David Bubb, Executive Director, Regional Communication Center, made a presentation by describing the Emergency Medical Dispatch Summary August 9 thru October 14, 2010 dated October 18, 2010. Councilman Cooper commented on the RCC being our 911 calling. He wanted to preface the 10 minutes and stated that was recommended by the County because that was the best they could do. He asked what they run an average call coming out of Southeast Volusia. Mr. Bubb estimated a five to six minute response time. Fire Department response is typically faster. 1 Council Regular Meeting October 18, 2010 Mr. Bubb continued his presentation by describing the Response Time Comparison Summary, the Asset Deployment Summary, Medic Unit Response Times and Summary. Mayor Thomas was going to let Councilman Cooper elaborate on what RCC was. Councilman Cooper commented on what the dollar is being paid for here in Southeast Volusia County with the 911 calls. Because they have a contract with EVAC and the County they have to fall under their parameters, which is what brings it up to 10 minutes. He asked Mr. Bubb to highlight the reason for the 3 -4 minute gap now due to the evaluation of the call first before anything is dispatched for non emergency calls, which he did at this time. Councilman Cooper commented on the number of questions being a big time delay. He commented on the priority for them being to dispatch as soon as possible. As far as he knew, Edgewater had the best record in the whole County. Councilman Cooper asked Mr. Bubb to talk to the public about what was up and coming. He pointed out that Oak Hill had shown an interest in coming onboard on the 911 calling because they would see a huge savings and better response. He felt it would be a good thing for them. Mr. Bubb commented on entertaining proposals for everybody in the County over the last two or three years. He doesn't want to bring additional people onboard if they just think they are cheaper than the next guy. He hoped it was due to the service they provide. They are talking with Daytona and have talked with Ormond and they are just collecting data and numbers and will make a proposal to that city as they have in the past. Councilman Cooper asked about Daytona looking pretty positive. Mr. Bubb felt they may be a good fit. He spoke of now having room available to them since the Police Department moved out of the old building. Councilman Cooper commented on there being a huge cost savings the last three years in a row. This year instead of passing that cost back to the cities, he recommended they hold that because none of their employees have had a raise in three years either. Mr. Bubb is going to see what he can do to give a minor raise to his folks and upgrade equipment. If Oak Hill and Daytona come on, the taxpayer dollars will go down accordingly. Mayor Thomas stated he meets with the 16 cities regularly and they are all jealous of Southeast Volusia RCC because of the efficiency and the cost savings and the things they have done. The only downside is when 2 Council Regular Meeting October 18, 2010 they make a 911 call it goes to RCC and that eliminates somebody being here 24 hours a day. A lot of people like to go to the Police Department and talk to somebody personally. That is what they eliminated but that is how they saved some money. He toured the RCC facility and it is fascinating. He commented on the GPS system they use. It is state of the art and he is proud they are a part of it. Mr. Bubb stated they are the only ones in the County that are doing true closest unit response, more so with the fire service than anything else. Councilman Cooper further commented on the accuracy of this system. Mr. Bubb didn't believe there was a Police Department in Volusia County left that had somebody staffed 24 hours a day. Councilman Cooper thanked Mr. Bubb for his presentation. Mayor Thomas thanked him for coming. B. Presentation regarding the Edgewater Police Volunteer Association in conjunction with the YMCA and the NSB High School presenting the details on the Fall Festival /Haunted Forest Daniel Blazi, Edgewater Police Department, informed Council on October 30 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. they were going to be having for the first time in well over ten years a haunted forest. He spoke of the Community Center being turned into a haunted house many years ago, which eventually went to Rotary Park where they had a haunted forest. The people to blame for this were City Manager Barlow, who planted the seed and Police Chief Bennett, who gave his blessing. He made mention of the Police Department wanting to find a holiday for the Police Department to represent. He spoke of the Fire Department doing the 4th of July Celebration. The Police Department has been looking for something to link onto themselves and they feel that Halloween is an excellent time period for the Police Department to be involved. Mr. Blazi pointed out this was a joint venture between the Police Department, the Southeast Volusia Family YMCA, New Smyrna Beach High School Drama Department, City of Edgewater Leisure Services and the Police volunteers Association, who is the main funder of this event. He stated Councilwoman Bennington was also the President of the Police Volunteers Association and has given her blessing. Mr. Blazi commented on how this whole event transpired and had blossomed. The Citizens Assistance Police will handle the traffic control. Parking would not be an issue. All volunteers involved would be under the liability of their various organizations. Councilwoman Rhodes expressed concern with predators being there. Mr. Blazi informed her they would have police there and all of the guides would be adult guides as well as there would be adults in the forest. 3 Council Regular Meeting October 18, 2010 City Manager Barlow explained it wasn't actually a forest but a small wooded area with a concrete sidewalk area that goes through. Mayor Thomas stated it sounded family friendly and safe. It sounds like Edgewater. Mr. Blazi stated the admission for this event was going to be a non- perishable food item per person coming in. If somebody comes in and doesn't have a food item, they will not be turned away. He mentioned the YMCA in the past collecting food as well as the High School having a "Tricks or Treats So Tots Can Eat" Program which is a sponsored national campaign. The food collected would go to local food pantries. He spoke of the school getting community service points, which was based on the weight of the food collected. Councilman Cooper gave kudos to all the different organizations that were going to be involved. He felt the kids would have a great time. Councilman Cooper urged the citizens to get the word out. Mr. Blazi informed him the flyers were made by Fantastic Signs, who was also donating the electronic sign for the week prior to announce the event. 4. CITIZEN COMMENTS The following citizens spoke: Robert Overton, 631 Starboard Avenue, had an RCC question. They know they have excellent Fire Department in Edgewater. In Edgewater Landing the Fire Department always arrives before the ambulance gets there. With our firemen being qualified to handle the medical emergencies, it seems that they are simply paying a double bill for the ambulance to come in after the Fire Department has already arrived. He realized all of the cities in Volusia County were not equally prepared to handle that service. He felt it would be nice for the County look at it on a regional basis and evaluate the service of the Fire Department and allow qualified regions to handle their own emergency services and wouldn't need EVAC to be a part of the process and let EVAC fill in for the other areas of the County until their Fire Departments come up to scale so they too can provide the type of service that they are getting and eventually cut out EVAC altogether. City Manager Barlow stated it has been over two years and they have taken that exact approach on a regional basis. They have met with County staff and EVAC staff for over two years and presented a hybrid version of what he had discussed where they could assist EVAC in some of those services, which he felt would be a win -win for the entire region. It would help generate some revenue to offset their current costs today in the fire rescue services at the same time give the opportunity for a reduction in operational costs and EVAC at the same time either maintain and /or enhance the level of services. Most 4 Council Regular Meeting October 18, 2010 recently the County Council has engaged and are closely looking at this and working with the Fire Chiefs' in this region on an alternative contingency transport agreement. The details have not been shared with them at this point but they were hoping it was still moving forward. Mr. Overton stated it seems they are spending more money than they should be spending in terms of duplication of service. He would hope the members of the County Council who were here this evening would take this back to the County and start moving ahead with it in a manner that would be more expeditious. Councilman Cooper commented on the County having the contract for medical service transport but they are working with them. Port Orange, New Smyrna and Edgewater have certified ambulances right now and they are ready to do the job. He spoke of the biggest thing with EVAC and health is it's not as much a cost issue as much as it is they are here to save lives and provide that service. It is basically the cost of doing business and they want the people transported as far as possible, which is 90% of what Mr. Bubb's people were doing and why his program was the envy of the whole County. Gene Empter, 513 Portside Lane, requested the Council speak closer into their microphones so the people in the back could hear. Dominic Capria, 606 Topside Circle, commented on the $500 stipend the Council is giving to the employees. Originally they started out with 122 employees, then it went to 152. They are now up to 179. He wasn't against helping somebody out. It was stated by council the reason being that the insurance went up so they were trying to help the employees pay for that. Today he found that was not the case. The case is contracts. He would like somebody to explain contracts. If it is contracts, he would like to negotiate the contracts and not the people who are negotiating them. He spoke of times being tough. They are talking about $89,500 that would be given out. Councilwoman Rhodes informed him he did hear the insurance thing but that was last year, not this year. Mr. Capria wanted somebody to explain these reasons. The word on the street is the Mayor is trying to buy the election with this $500. Some of the people getting the $500 are in the $50,000 to over $60,000 bracket. Councilwoman Rhodes informed Mr. Capria the $500 in lieu of a raise because they can't give them a raise because every year in a union you build on a raise. It wasn't the Mayor's idea. He does however endorse the idea. The reason they are giving the stipend is because when times were tough they asked them to bite the bullet and not have a raise and they did it and they told them if they would stick with 5 Council Regular Meeting October 18, 2010 them at some point in time they would reward them as best as they could. If they give the $500 as a stipend then they save a lot of money in social security, union contracts, taxes, those kinds of things. That is why it is given that way. As far as the health insurance goes, they did that last year so they wouldn't lose money. Mr. Capria stated what she was telling him was there are contracts. Why do they have to abide for it if there aren't contracts? Councilwoman Rhodes informed him it had nothing to do with negotiating a contract. The stipend doesn't go to any of the department heads or supervisors. Every employee belongs to one of the unions here. He could understand the lower paid employees getting it but not the employees receiving $50,000 or more. Councilwoman Bennington stated they aren't giving anybody $60,000 a year. They earn it. Councilman Cooper explained it has been three years with no raises for the City employees across the board. This year is the third year. Last year it was so bad that they couldn't give a raise and medical insurance went up so much for the folks that had a family, which was about half of the employees and all they could afford to give was what he thought was $268. This year they couldn't put a flat percentage on because of there being three bargaining organizations and they didn't have the money. They came up with this program to help out everybody. This $500 at Christmas time is going to be a life saver to a lot of the lower end employees. The employees have been on a fixed income now for three years and their bills and groceries have gone up too. 5. APPROVAL OR CHANGES /MODIFICATIONS TO THE AGENDA There were no Changes /Modifications to the agenda at this time. 6. CITY COUNCIL REPORTS Councilwoman Bennington stated she hoped they told everyone about the Fall Festival and Haunted Forest and they are taking every precaution to make sure it is safe. Councilwoman Bennington then reported on the JamFest 2010 on Saturday night. They didn't have as many people as they anticipated. It was a good concert. It went pretty smooth. They did have some altercations but they had enough police there and enough volunteers for the traffic so they had no problems with that. She felt it was a success. Councilwoman Rhodes had nothing at this time. Councilman Cooper commented on a meeting in Deland they had with Congressman Mica, who has been the spearhead when it comes to the TPO, and the MPO for roads and safety and things of that nature. He sat down with all of the cities and took time out of his busy schedule to listen to their complaints. He identified the individuals that were 6 Council Regular Meeting October 18, 2010 at the meeting. Later this month he would be sitting down with Congressman Mica going after some additional moneys they believe are available to Edgewater for beautification and safety. He is willing to help them on that. He is also willing to look at bringing back an earmark he had on for them in Southeast Volusia a few years back. It's not often you get somebody from Washington D.C. that will take your fight back there. Mayor Thomas thanked Edgewater Landing for hosting a forum last week. He commented on the Chamber of Commerce hosting a Hob Nob event last Friday. He was very proud that Edgewater hosted that. Mayor Thomas reported on the DOT meeting that was held last week regarding some median closings on U.S. #1. They are trying to attract businesses to Edgewater and now they want to close some of the medians. Development Services Director Darren Lear had already met with DOT to voice some of their concerns. Mayor Thomas then reported on the radio talk show he did today with City Manager Barlow today on WSBB. Mayor Thomas commented on City Manager Barlow making a personal visit to a problem ongoing south of the Florida Shores subdivision regarding two private landowners and people riding their four wheelers and four wheel drives on the property and destroying the wetlands and dumping hazardous waste. They are creating havoc on the weekends. They are looking at alternatives on how they can prevent this. He wanted to entertain some energy to try to resolve this complaint. City Manager Barlow has already contacted the owner of one property and they are going to try to post that property and let the Police Department handle it. He asked if anyone else had any suggestions. Councilwoman Rhodes thought this matter had been settled. She thought they were going to try to get SeaEdge to let them drop some logs in there across the trails. City Manager Barlow commented on speaking to the president of SeaGate who is being instructed by his legal counsel with concerns of securing that property and he is under the belief that if he goes through the steps to secure the property and somebody breaches that security they are more liable verses leaving it open for people to trespass for recreational purposes. He has requested he reconsult with his legal counsel. The only thing that really he was requesting that could be an assistance to them is if they post the property with a no trespass warrant and send the City a letter describing that nobody is supposed to be trespassing on that property and authorizing the City to issue trespass warrants if they do. The City's hands are tied unless they have something from the property owners describing nobody is allowed there and they are allowed to trespass them, there isn't a whole lot they can do unless they find vehicles that aren't registered to be on the street driving on our 7 Council Regular Meeting October 18, 2010 public streets to get there. The Police Department is going to do extra patrol to discourage some of the activity. Councilwoman Rhodes asked about putting a guardrail or a barrel in the public right -of -way. City Manager Barlow commented on the costs associated with putting in a guardrail being quite expensive and the requirement to meet roadway standards. Mayor Thomas commented on encountering problems like this all the time when he worked in law enforcement. He identified some of the things people will do to gain access to a property and commented on this being a big problem. City Manager Barlow commented on there being some responsibility of the property owner as well. They haven't worked with the City favorably to try to come up with some suggestions to improve the situation. Councilwoman Rhodes thought there had to be something in the Code. She suggested the property owner be Code violated. City Manager Barlow stated he had threatened that. Councilwoman Bennington asked about environmental damage. Mayor Thomas stated he told the lady to contact the Florida Fish & Wildlife every time it happens because if they are endangering the wetlands they can be cited. If they dump hazardous waste that is a felony and they only need probable cause. If they dump anything over 500 pounds that is also a felony and they only need probable cause. Councilwoman Bennington stated from what she is hearing if they can't control the people that are dumping then they have to go after the property owners. City Manager Barlow commented on that not being the complaint of the neighbors and the complaint being the recreational activity on this property of those with four wheelers and trucks. This isn't the first time the City has faced a similar problem and he has been pretty good to negotiate compliance and partnerships with those property owners to work with them to help secure and prevent future such activities on the property. He felt confident hopefully they could get there with this property owner as well. City Manager Barlow then identified another challenge with a parcel adjacent to it that is in the unincorporated County. He felt with the assistance of the Police Department, hopefully they will deter some of that activity. Councilwoman Rhodes stated they can't say that people can vandalize property and there is nothing they can do about it. City Manager Barlow stated her if the property owner allows it to happen. Councilwoman Rhodes felt they should find a way to do something about it by making some laws. City Manager Barlow stated essentially property owners will approach the City and ask for assistance. This is completely different. They are preventing them from stopping this recreational activity. 8 Council Regular Meeting October 18, 2010 Councilman Cooper felt there was an opportunity here. He commented on the folks that have the mud trucks and 4- wheelers being a large group of folks that have a lot of money invested in these things. He has seen in other places where they got together with a developer and they turned it into a professionally laid out course and they made money off of it. He felt they should steer it that way and make it an opportunity. 7. CONSENT AGENDA A. Request for approval of the Combined Operational Assistance and Voluntary Cooperation Agreement for Volusia County, Florida B. Award Bid #10 -ES -006 for Lift Station #5 Improvements to JD Weber Construction in the amount of $127,900 C. Budget amendment to cover damages and reimbursement to barricade at 30 Street and Silver Palm Drive D. Approval to resurface roads as budgeted in Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 for an amount not to exceed $252,282 and piggyback Volusia County's bid Councilman Cooper stated last time he requested Item A be removed and it was voted on by Council to ask City Attorney Ansay to take a look at it and make any suggestion on validity or excessive liability she thought they might be under. He didn't see a report in reference to that. He asked if they did anything about that. City Attorney Ansay stated after the last Council meeting, Councilman Cooper was to meet with City Manager Barlow to express his concerns about the agreement and he spoke with her and told her to come prepared this evening to speak about the issues. Mayor Thomas removed item A from the Consent Agenda. Councilwoman Rhodes moved to approve Items B, C, & D of the Consent Agenda, second by Councilwoman Rhodes. The MOTION CARRIED 4 -0. A. Request for approval of the Combined Operational Assistance and Voluntary Cooperation Agreement for Volusia County, Florida City Attorney Ansay stated she was asked to look at the liability and issues related to provisions of mutual aid services beyond the City of Edgewater borders by officers employed by the city of Edgewater. 9 Council Regular Meeting October 18, 2010 There is a proposed mutual aid agreement that was on the City's agenda has been approved and executed by a number of local cities and had some amendments. It has been in place for some time but the provisions related to liability were the ones she was specifically asked to address. Those exist in the current agreement. Essentially the way the agreement reads is that liability when an officer provides any kind of mutual aid as defined under the agreement, if there is any kind of act, omission or liability that results from an officer's act the liability translates back to the agency or city that employs that officer. What they have is a circumstance where if they have an officer that is in another jurisdiction providing any kind of service under the mutual aid agreement and something goes wrong the liability then comes back to the City of Edgewater. If they had an officer from New Smyrna that came into the City of Edgewater to provide that service, liability inures to the agency that employs that officer. She has spoken with people in other jurisdictions to see if it is a customary practice in other cities to use this type of format as opposed to using a format that they would just be responsible in that particular jurisdiction for the activity that took place regardless of whether the employee assigned or responding was employed by you and it seemed to be unanimous that all do the same thing that this mutual aid agreement does which is basically ties the responsibility to the City that employs the officer. City Attorney Ansay then commented on another issue that as a general proposition taxpayers don't like local governments fighting with local governments over who is responsible. To do it otherwise she felt would be cumbersome. If they didn't have it clearly spelled out that it was one party or the other it would often become a fingerpointing exercise that would have lawyers from the City fighting lawyers from New Smyrna over who was really responsible, who should pay and why and by having a clearly delineated path it makes good fiscal sense in that regard. City Attorney Ansay further explained the agreement had separate provisions that provided for both insurance. The insurance limits are not specifically spelled out. It is insurance they deem is adequate which is obviously somewhat malleable and subject to interpretation. She felt to define a specific number was difficult because the types and the context of responses they could potentially be given under the mutual aid agreement vary so widely that to give a specific number she didn't know where she would begin to recommend. It also allows for smaller cities and larger entities to participate when their insurance limits might not match but ultimately they are going to be responsible. City Attorney Ansay explained the agreement and Florida law does contain sovereign immunity protections for many actions that would protect the City as it would protect the other participants of the agreement. She felt that provided a heightened level of protection to 10 Council Regular Meeting October 18, 2010 the City if an issue arises with an officer of ours in another jurisdiction. She again mentioned other jurisdictions all doing the same thing. They can't take on the responsibility of someone they don't train, don't hire, and don't have policies that govern that person. Councilman Cooper commented on having an accident or something where things went wrong and it's Holly Hill or Ormond Beach and it happened here in Edgewater, can't a law firm sue all of the cities. When they bring anything forward, they not only sue the city, they sue the person involved and the insurance company. City Attorney Ansay explained you can sue anybody for anything. The reality is if there was an officer in Ormond Beach that was responding to an issue in Holly Hill and it went wrong and they got a copy of the mutual aid agreement, merely because we are a signatory to the agreement would it provide an avenue for liability to us, no. Under basic liability and tort law there has to be a duty that was breached causing damages. They have no duty to that person in Holly Hill or Ormond to make sure that those other people provide appropriate service to them. They have a duty if our officer was the guy responding to the call to ensure he or she provides proper service. Councilman Cooper stated if he were an Ormond Beach police officer and he attempted to arrest someone in Holly Hill and he escaped and he followed him to Edgewater and finally they arrested him in Edgewater and something went wrong, all three of those cities could be sued. He asked if they were opening it up for any where an event took place for a law firm to sue every City this whole thing went through. Councilwoman Rhodes stated if police officers from every city became involved in that road chase as it was going through their City, then yes they could sue every one of them because they would be involved and would be involved if they had a mutual aid agreement or not. Councilman Cooper expressed concern with getting to sue that many more cities individually now costing the taxpayer a heck of a lot more money. City Attorney Ansay stated she didn't see it that way. She thought if they had somebody who was traveling through multiple jurisdictions causing damages along the way then anybody injured in that context has the ability to sue those who have a duty to protect them whether the agreement is in place or not. City Attorney Ansay further explained one of the things they have to look at is if this were a new agreement and a new concept and they were debating the merits and the legal possibilities it would be one thing but they aren't in a vacuum because these agreements have existed. They have a State Statute that essentially endorses them and promotes them. They have years amongst hundreds of jurisdictions and there doesn't seem to be that kind of a problem. 11 Council Regular Meeting October 18, 2010 Councilman Cooper asked City Attorney Ansay if her recommendation was because of the history they have she feels confident to let it go forward and she doesn't make any kind of recommendation where additional legalize needed to be imposed into the document. City Attorney Ansay stated she felt as a policy decision the Council had to determine whether it wanted to participate in mutual aid. If Council wants to participate in mutual aid her belief is that then they have to decide if they agree with the general concept that they should be responsible for their guys and the other cities should be responsible for their guys. Her belief is the agreement as it is written provides the protection. She thinks the legalize here or lack thereof does match the policy which is allowing the officers to be responsible and march to the beat of the city they are employed in ultimately and she thinks that is what it does. Councilman Cooper moved to approve Item 7A of the Consent Agenda, second by Councilwoman Rhodes. The MOTION CARRIED 4 -0. Mayor Thomas called a ten - minute recess at this time. The meeting recessed at 7:13 p.m. and reconvened at 7:25 p.m. 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. 2 Ordinance No. 2010 -0 -22 - Amending Article III, Section 21 -36.07 (Boat Docks and Slips) of the Land Development Code City Attorney Ansay read Ordinance 2010 -0 -22 into the record. City Manager Barlow made a staff presentation. Due to there being no Council or public comment, Mayor Thomas entertained a motion. Councilwoman Bennington moved to approve Ordinance 2010 -0 -22, second by Councilwoman Rhodes. The MOTION CARRIED 4 -0. B. Resolution No. 2010 -R -18 - Joint support between the cities of Edgewater, New Smyrna Beach and Oak Hill for Bert Fish Medical Center remaining clinically and financially strong City Attorney Ansay read Resolution 2010 -R -18 into the record. City Manager Barlow made a staff presentation. He passed out to Council a letter sent by Jonathan Kaney who represents Bert Fish 12 Council Regular Meeting October 18, 2010 Foundation, requesting an additional amendment, which was highlighted in yellow. He also notified Council that the City of New Smyrna Beach agreed to table this and wait until litigation was resolved and further review by their attorney. Oak Hill has also tabled this. City Manager Barlow informed Council that Bob Williams wasn't able to make it this evening but he sent a representative, Nancy Evolga, who was available to answer any questions. It was his understanding that at least one of his recommendations may have been satisfied at the last Bert Fish Board meeting where he has requested for outside representation with a financial background to evaluate any bid processes. Nancy Evolga, Vice President, Human Resources, Bert Fish Medical Center, confirmed at the last board meeting it was voted on that they do have a consultant who is working with them to review all three of the bids and not make a recommendation but to analyze the data. City Manager Barlow informed Council they could continue the resolution or table it as the two neighboring cities have done. City Manager Barlow asked if they were to approve the resolution, there is reference to New Smyrna and Oak Hill, and whether it would be effective. City Attorney Ansay explained it was a joint resolution that presupposes as its drafted that the other two support. If the City were interested in adopting a resolution, it would have to be revised just to reflect they hadn't adopted it and it would then just be an Edgewater resolution. Councilwoman Bennington questioned why they were doing this to begin with. City Manager Barlow thought the intent of the resolution was to send a message that whatever happens through either a merger or transition, whoever ends up being the controlling party or partner of this, that Southeast Volusia needs a hospital that presently provides the services that Bert Fish does. Mayor Thomas stated the resolution was to show their support of whatever happens. He commented on when Mr. Williams first approached him. He felt it wasn't any of his business and Mr. Williams was there to take care of that type of business. Why stick his nose into his business, he's not the medical expert and doesn't know which merger would be best for the citizens. Councilwoman Bennington stated she had some problems with what is going on over the whole thing herself, personal problems that she sees that aren't questionable. She doesn't have a problem with Bert Fish providing the service to the area and she doesn't think they need to be voting on this until all of this is cleared up and once it is final they can say they want the hospital to stay there no matter who has 13 Council Regular Meeting October 18, 2010 control of it. They don't want to lose it. While all of this is going on, they shouldn't be putting their two cents into this. Councilwoman Rhodes felt the resolution was redundant. Due to there being no public comment, Mayor Thomas entertained a motion. Councilman Cooper moved to table Resolution 2010 -R -18 with the other cities until all information can be brought forward, second by Councilwoman Bennington. The MOTION CARRIED 4 -0. C. Larry Miller, agent for Close to the Edge, LLC, requesting a Special Activity Permit for a music and art festival to be held at the Edgewater Ranch, December 17 - 19, 2010 and for an exemption to the number of events /activities permitted per year for this location City Manager Barlow made a staff presentation. This would be the first one they would consider for the one year exemption. Larry Miller, Jr., 811 Mary Avenue, New Smyrna Beach, further commented on the types of music & art that would be at the festival. He further commented on how this all started. He commented on an art show they recently had on Beach Street in Daytona Beach. Councilman Cooper referred to the art and asked if there would be anything offensive? Mr. Miller informed him they wouldn't have anything vulgar or obscene. Councilman Cooper asked if a sign could be put up identifying art that may even arise a question. Mr. Miller agreed to do that. They have posted signs in the past identifying nudity. Councilman Cooper was impressed with the families and small children that have attended the events that have occurred on this property in the past. They want to keep that happening. Councilwoman Bennington identified that Police and Fire didn't see any problem with this. City Manager Barlow commented on continuing to work with the promoters out there up to and through the event. Councilwoman Bennington asked if they were going to provide Police and Fire like they did with the other events. City Manager Barlow informed her when it gets closer they will determine the number of the crowds and if they need public safety and if so how many. Councilwoman Bennington asked how they came up with estimating 3,000 people will attend her day. Mr. Miller informed her they needed to 14 Council Regular Meeting October 18, 2010 put a number but they were going to be selling pretickets and would have a better number. They wanted to make sure they had enough services. They met with the Police Chief and Fire Marshal and right now they have 5 officers scheduled to be on duty as well as 2 paramedics and drivers as well as the Fire Marshal there checking their sound. They would have their own security force. There was a brief discussion regarding alcohol being sold at the event. The proceeds from the alcohol were going to go for scholarships involved in the music program at Daytona State. Councilman Cooper asked what the cost was for the tickets. Mr. Miller informed him they were going to be $25 in advance for the three day ticket and the single day would be $15 in advance. Councilman Cooper asked if they were going to have any local ticket venues. Mr. Miller informed him they would once they had their sponsors. City Manager Barlow commented on selling tickets for the JamFest at City Hall. If they were interested in being a ticket vendor for this as well, now was the time to approach. Mayor Thomas asked for public comment. The following citizen spoke: Robert Burns, 700 Green Road, New Smyrna Beach, stated he had been to the last three of Mr. Miller's show in Daytona Beach. His most recent show was off the chain. It was phenomenal. It filled the entire Dunn Building and they had people of every age. This is a real happening and they have been blessed to host something of this nature in his opinion. He suggested Council take it seriously and hoped they would be at the event. It will be something people will talk about. Mayor Thomas entertained a motion. Councilwoman Bennington moved to grant the Special Activity Permit to Close to the Edge LLC and to approve the exemption to the number of events /activities permitted per year on this property, second by Councilwoman Rhodes. The MOTION CARRIED 4 -0. 9. BOARD APPOINTMENTS A. General Employees' Pension Board - Council's affirmation of the reappointments of Tyna Lynn Hilton, John McKinney and Brenda Dewees 15 Council Regular Meeting October 18, 2010 Councilwoman Bennington moved to affirm the reappointments of Tyna Lynn Hilton, John McKinney and Brenda Dewees to the General Employees Pension Board, second by Councilwoman Rhodes. The MOTION CARRIED 4 -0. B. Police Officers' Pension Board of Trustees - Mayor Thomas' appointment due to the expired term of Kevin Seymour, who has not requested reappointment Mayor Thomas nominated Vincent McCauley. Councilwoman Rhodes moved to approve Mayor Thomas' nomination to appoint Vincent McCauley to the Police Officers' Pension Board of Trustees, second by Councilwoman Bennington. The MOTION CARRIED 4 -0. C. Firefighters' Pension Fund Board - Councilman Cooper's appointment due to the expired term of Deborah Harrison, who seeks reappointment Councilman Cooper moved to reappoint Deborah Harrison to the Firefighters' Pension Fund Board, second by Councilwoman Bennington. The MOTION CARRIED 4 -0. 10. OTHER BUSINESS A. Approval of the Coastal Florida Public Employees Association Agreement (General Employees Union Contract) City Manager Barlow made a staff presentation by identifying changes to the October 1, 2010 thru September 30, 2013 General Employees Union Contract. He informed Council wages were reopened every year. Councilwoman Rhodes questioned the Firefighters not having a union. City Manager Barlow informed her they didn't have a ratified contract and still fall under the General Employees until they have a ratified contract. Due to there being no public comment, Mayor Thomas entertained a motion. Councilwoman Rhodes moved to approve the October 1, 2010 - September 30, 2013 Central Florida Public Employees Association Agreement for fiscal year 2010 -2011, second by Councilman Cooper. The MOTION CARRIED 4 -0. 16 Council Regular Meeting October 18, 2010 B. Robert Gazzoli, agent for SeaEdge Partners LLC, requesting an amendment and restatement of the existing Planned Unit Development (PUD) Agreement for the Edgewater Lakes Subdivision City Manager Barlow made a staff presentation. Mr. Gazzoli was unable to attend the meeting due to being ill. He informed Council City Attorney Ansay had been a part of the entire process. Councilwoman Rhodes asked who had interest in the 20 acres. City Manager Barlow informed her he's talked to a couple individuals of interest but this had to be done before he could move forward with that. They have to separate those. Due to there being no public comment, Mayor Thomas entertained a motion. Councilman Cooper moved to approve the third amended and restated Planned Unit Development (PUD) Agreement for the Edgewater Lakes Subdivision, second by Councilwoman Rhodes. The MOTION CARRIED 4 -0. C. Vicki Keepes, agent for the Word Center Inc., requesting the Special Activity Permit fee be waived for the Fall Festival Community Resource event being held on October 30, 2010 at Rotary Park City Manager Barlow informed Council Ms. Keepes wanted to make some amendments to her Special Activity Permit request. Vicki Keepes, Executive Director, Word Center Inc., stated she originally made a request for the special event fee be waived at Rotary Park to do a Fall Festival Community Resource event. She has been feeding over 500 families a month in southeast Volusia County for the last three years through their Angel Food Outreach. She has made connections with One Stop Career Center and the Access Center for people to be able to apply for their food stamps, to have a local office out of her facility in Edgewater for them to have easy access. She wanted to change the event from October 30 to November 13 She was changing the date but still requesting the fee be waived. There would be no fee charged to the people that would be coming. It was going to be family friendly just to let the people know what help is available to them in Southeast Volusia County. Councilman Cooper commented on the permitting fees helping offset the cost of cleanup. He asked her if they would be policing their own area. Ms. Keepes stated they would take care of all that and the insurance was being taken care of through their agency as well. 17 Council Regular Meeting October 18, 2010 City Manager Barlow didn't think the type of event would require a lot of staff time with regard to policing. Staff saw this as a benefit to the community to showcase those types of resources that are needed at this time. Councilwoman Bennington suggested she keep it on October 30 so people could leave the City's event and then go to her event. Ms. Keepes informed her she got called for jury duty and wanted more time to prepare. City Manager Barlow informed Ms. Keepes this was a public park and was on a first come first serve and they couldn't close it for this event. Councilman Cooper made a motion to waive the Special Activity Permit fee of $300 for the Fall Festival Community Resource event and change the date to November 13 second by Councilwoman Bennington. The MOTION CARRIED 4 -0. 11. OFFICER REPORTS A. City Clerk City Clerk Wenzel had nothing at this time. B. City Attorney City Attorney Ansay commented on a claim that has been filed against the City. Back in July 2009 a little girl was swinging on a swingset at Rotary Park and apparently the swingset broke while she was swinging and she fell to the ground and was injured. She was 9 years old at the time. The family originally didn't think it was any big deal but apparently she had some neck and shoulder pain that continued and as a result she sought medical treatment primarily from a chiropractor over the course of about a year and has about $8,000 in medical bills. They were put on Statutory Notice under 768.28 that they would be sued as a result of the claim. During the holding period the insurance company investigated the claim and has been attempting to try to settle the claim so it wouldn't go into litigation. The insurance company has been successful in directly negotiating a settlement of $10,000 directly with the family. To end the claim it would require that they contribute their $5,000 deductible to the $5,000 that the insurance company would pay to settle the claim. She wanted to bring that forward for Council's approval. Councilwoman Rhodes asked if the other swings had been inspected to make sure this doesn't happen again. City Manager Barlow stated they continue to do daily inspections. Although they do everything they 18 Council Regular Meeting October 18, 2010 can to prevent that from happening unfortunately sometimes they can't predict it. Councilman Cooper asked if there was anything that protects the City when people are using their public parks. City Attorney Ansay explained if somebody were to just fall off the swing using it in the manner it was designed to be used she felt they would have a very good position. When the swing breaks, they get to be in a position to argue it wasn't maintained or inspected. The reality is as part of the claims documents, there certainly was a log detailing inspections but unfortunately she felt the insurance company viewed it as a business decision. She further commented on insurance companies having a life of their own in that they will be more aggressive at settling for years but then the word gets out that all they have to do is threaten to sue them and they will get $10,000 and they go the other way. She spoke of this being typical in tough economic times. There was a brief discussion regarding when the family filed. City Attorney Ansay stated they legally are required to wait before filing. They filed their notice of claim seven days after she fell. She recommended Council settle it. It was the consensus of Council to settle for $10,000, $5,000 towards the deductible and $5,000 from the insurance company. City Attorney Ansay then commented on the contract the City has for the retention of herself and her firm as City Attorney. They entered into that contract back in 2007 and the four years provided for in the agreement has lapsed. They can either amend the contract to extend the term of years or if they decided they wanted to explore other options, they could advertise to seek another attorney. She commented on enjoying being the City Attorney for the City of Edgewater. She would be interested in continuing on. Councilwoman Rhodes stated she always liked City Attorney Ansay and thought she was the best. City Manager Barlow stated he has had the privilege since December 2007 to work directly in this capacity with City Attorney Ansay and a different capacity prior to. He commented on utilizing members of her firm in the past that are experts in a particular field. He felt it was certainly a benefit to the City, the agreement they have with this firm and the expertise and the levels of service the City receives. He didn't know they could get any better. Councilwoman Rhodes pointed out she wasn't raising her rates either. City Manager Barlow commented on them being extremely accessible. Mayor Thomas further commented on City Attorney Ansay being accessible. He also commented on money they have saved this City. 19 Council Regular Meeting October 18, 2010 City Manager Barlow reminded Council a lot of her services were reimbursed by developers. The arrangement they have is extremely efficient economically. There was a brief discussion regarding how long to extend the agreement. Councilwoman Rhodes moved to amend the contract to extend it for three more years, second by Councilwoman Bennington. The MOTION CARRIED 4 -0. C. City Manager City Manager Barlow reminded Council of the November 1 st and November 15 meetings. 12. CITIZEN COMMENTS The following citizens spoke: Gene Empter, 513 Portside Lane, commented on the discussion regarding the salary increases bothering him. He felt it would be answered with a yes or no. Either raises have been granted or raises have not been granted. Councilman Cooper informed him the stipend wasn't really considered a raise. Mr. Empter informed him he wasn't considering that a raise. Councilman Cooper asked Mr. Empter if he was talking about the raises that Mr. Capria brought forward. Councilwoman Bennington informed him there were no raises given this year other than the step program. Councilwoman Rhodes stated it was a yes and no because they did give some raises because they have a low tier of employees that aren't making what they should make. Over the next five years they are going to phase in. She commented on losing police officers because of other cities paying more. She spoke of the step plan in place to raise the entry level pay of employees that were already here that made less than the entry level. Mr. Empter asked when the program was implemented. Councilwoman Rhodes informed him tonight. Councilwoman Bennington informed him they accepted it in the union contract tonight. Councilwoman Rhodes stated the reasoning behind this is to get employees and keep employees due to the money spent training them. Mr. Empter asked if any administrative or supervisory employees had received an increase in salary for fiscal year 2011. Councilman Cooper commented on a list of salary increases that Mr. Capria had. He 20 Council Regular Meeting October 18, 2010 asked Mr. Capria to present what he had to City Manager Barlow so it could be researched. Councilwoman Bennington commented on it being justified if someone gets a raise because of a classification change. Mr. Empter commented on the credibility of the City and Mr. Capria suffering because there are apples and oranges. Dominic Capria, 606 Topside Circle, stated he negotiated contracts as a Personnel Administrator for years. He wasn't talking about entry level. He read a few of the increases that were given. Councilwoman Rhodes pointed out Council enacted no raises so if that was done it was wrong. But something was telling her there was more to it. City Manager Barlow presented reasons on why the salaries of the Personnel Director and Personnel Administrator were increased. He further commented on putting transitional plans together for the future as employees will not be here forever. Councilwoman Bennington asked when all of this took place. City Manager Barlow estimated 12 -14 months ago. City Manager Barlow further commented on why the other individuals received raises. He explained they are promotions that are attached to educations and certifications. He stated he had no problem with meeting any citizen when they have questions about this. Councilman Cooper mentioned the sizable raises being an eye ball opener for the public. Mayor Thomas pointed out if someone moves up to Fire Chief, then he gets a promotion. It is not a raise. It is the next step. Councilwoman Rhodes stated if they complete educational requirements and those are tied to money enhancements, which is what they want, how is that a raise? Councilman Cooper felt it was still a raise. Mr. Empter agreed they were increases but they were not raises. Vicki Keepes expressed her appreciation to the Council for giving the employees the $500 stipend. Some of those families are coming to her outreach ministry to get food. They need the money to protect our City. 13. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, Councilwoman Rhodes moved to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 8:32 p.m. Minutes submitted by: 21 Council Regular Meeting October 18, 2010 Lisa Bloomer, CMC Attest: APPROVED: City of Edgewater, Florida Bonnie Wenzel, City Clerk Michael L. Thomas, Mayor 22 Council Regular Meeting October 18, 2010