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11-01-2010 - Regular CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER REGULAR MEETING NOVEMBER 1, 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 Present Councilwoman Gigi Bennington Present Councilwoman Harriet Rhodes Excused 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 There were no Presentations at this time. 4. CITIZEN COMMENTS There were no Citizen Comments at this time. 5. APPROVAL OR CHANGES /MODIFICATIONS TO THE AGENDA City Manager Barlow informed Mayor Thomas when they got to the Consent Agenda he would need to pull Item C for further discussion. 6. CITY COUNCIL REPORTS Councilwoman Bennington presented a report on the Fall Festival and the Haunted Forest they had Saturday night. They collected over 2,000 pounds of food. They ran out of candy within the first half hour. To 1 Council Regular Meeting November 1, 2010 get into the Haunted Forest there was a 2 hour wait. She commended the officers that worked. The actors from the High School were terrific. She further commented on it being a big success. She also recognized that there were City employees that participated. There was a brief discussion regarding approximately how many people may have attended. Councilman Cooper presented a report on the YMCA meeting. He reminded everyone tomorrow was Election Day. Councilman Cooper commented on how awesome the Fall Festival /Haunted Forest was. That was the biggest event he has seen in the 28 years he has been here. There was a brief discussion regarding whether the media was there or not. Councilwoman Rogers had nothing at this time. Mayor Thomas commented on the arsons on Maytown Road. Two of the buildings in his hunt club were set on fire. It took approximately 20 -30 minutes for the fire truck to arrive. When they did arrive his building was fully engulfed in flames and they could not fight it because there were only two men on a truck. To save a few dollars when your home is going up in flames is not worth it. Councilwoman Bennington asked Mayor Thomas who answered the call. Mayor Thomas informed her Volusia County. Councilman Cooper thought the County was going to have a rotating third person all the time. City Manager Barlow explained the primary station that covers that area was in Oak Hill and traditionally they are at two staffing. Councilwoman Bennington had just noticed Dan Blazi come in and wanted him to provide an update of the Fall Festival /Haunted Forest, which he did at this time. He also had pictures that he took and City Clerk Wenzel went through the slide show to show Council the pictures taken by Mr. Blazi. They had over 3,000 participants, which was much higher than expected and brought in over one ton of food. He spoke of the pantries at Halifax Urban Ministries being empty before this event occurred and they now are full. They had to divert additional food that came in to their Daytona area. He expressed special thanks to the YMCA volunteers, the New Smyrna Beach High School Drama Department, the CAPS and their own officers. He spoke of many entities coming together to make this event such a huge success. 2 Council Regular Meeting November 1, 2010 Councilman Cooper asked Mr. Blazi to provide them with the names of the groups so they could have a plaque of appreciation for those people, which he did at this time. Mr. Blazi also commented on the folks that remembered and commented on the Haunted House that used to be done in the Council Chambers over ten years ago. He also commented on Officer Weber knowing a manager at Burger King that told her she should have warned her about the event because she wound up having to call in two employees because of the overflow of business. 7. CONSENT AGENDA A. Request for approval to dispose of fixed assets B. Approval of addendum number 1 with D &A Building Services for Janitorial Services, expiring on December 9, 2011 and authorization for the City Manager to execute the agreement C. Authorization for the purchase of a new all - terrain excavator from Menzi USA in the amount of $231,467, piggybacking on the Florida Sheriff's 2010 bid City Manager Barlow commented on Item A & B of the Consent Agenda. Councilwoman Bennington moved to approve Items A & B of the Consent Agenda, second by Councilman Cooper. The MOTION CARRIED 4 -0. C. Authorization for the purchase of a new all- terrain excavator from Menzi USA in the amount of $231,467, piggybacking on the Florida sheriff's 2010 bid City Manager Barlow made a staff presentation regarding Item C of the Consent Agenda by describing the bid may have expired on September 30, 2010. He spoke of determining if the contract has been extended for the bid and some written confirmation or they are going to go through and evaluate to make sure they meet the criteria as a sole source. He asked for the motion to include approval continent on the contract still being valid or extended or it meets the provisions of a sole source as identified in the Purchasing Policy. They have $250,000 budgeted for this item. They have two but only one is operable and one has been placed on the Fixed Asset list so this one would replace that one. Mayor Thomas commented on the parts for the Menzi being hard to get. Environmental Services Director Brenda Dewees spoke of the parts coming from Switzerland. 3 Council Regular Meeting November 1, 2010 Mayor Thomas entertained a motion. Councilman Cooper made a motion to authorize the purchase of a new all- terrain walking excavator from Menzi USA in the amount of $231,467 piggybacking on the Florida Sheriff's 2010 bid if that bid should be extended under proper procedures through their legal team. City Attorney Ansay stated and if not it could be authorized if they make the proper determinations it would be a sole source. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Bennington. The MOTION CARRIED 4 -0. 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS, ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS There were no Public Hearings, Ordinances or Resolutions to be discussed at this time. 9. BOARD APPOINTMENTS A. Firefighters' Pension Fund Board - Council's ratification of Gary Butt's reappointment Councilwoman Bennington moved to reappoint Gary Butt to the Firefighters' Pension Fund Board, second by Councilwoman Rogers. The MOTION CARRIED 4 -0. B. Library Board - Councilwoman Rhodes' appointment due to the expired term of Laverna McGinnis, who seeks reappointment This item was moved to the next meeting due Councilwoman Rhodes not being present at this meeting. C. Library Board - Councilman Cooper's appointment due to the expired term of Jean Haughwout, who does not seek reappointment Councilman Cooper moved to appoint Larry Middleton to the Library Board, second by Councilwoman Bennington. The MOTION CARRIED 4 -0. D. Library Board - Mayor Thomas' appointment due to the expired term of Mary Person, who seeks reappointment Mayor Thomas nominated Mary Person to be reappointed to the Library Board. Councilwoman Bennington moved to reappoint Mary Person to the Library Board, second by Councilwoman Rogers. 4 Council Regular Meeting November 1, 2010 The MOTION CARRIED 4 -0. 10. OTHER BUSINESS A. Authorization for the Mayor to execute the contract with Pat cook Construction for the replacement of Fire Station 55 in the amount not to exceed $2,066,900 and approve the necessary budget amendment City Manager Barlow made a staff presentation regarding Items 10A & 10B. He informed Council they had not formally accepted the grant at this point in time. Council had given previous authority to determine how much this project was going to cost before they fully committed to it. He mentioned on the bidding process being completed and now having a final price. Brad Blaise commented on the bidding process. They received eight bids. They had approximately twelve prime contractors bidding the project. He spoke of needing to clarify the qualifications for the local contractors because of concerns with the initial bidding being too restrictive. He spoke of having two preconstruction conferences. There were four addendums issued. They received a very tight set of bids. They were comfortable with the types of bids received. The low bidder has built three other fire stations in the recent past. The references for Pat Cook construction out of Bradenton came back positive. He then commented on Billco Construction out of South Daytona being a little high so there was really no reason not to recommend award to Pat Cook Construction. Once the award process was complete, they would execute contracts and move forward. He also informed Council the bids came in under the estimate. Councilman Cooper expressed concern with change orders. He asked what the last fire station was Pat Cook Construction built and how much they threw back in in the way of change orders and if he was able to get a feel for a percentage. Mr. Blaise commented on looking at the references and speaking with two of the Fire Chiefs' and the change order percentages were not extreme and were all things that were needed and redeemed acceptable by the City. He spoke of the need to budget contingency funds for a project of this size because there are things that will come up, that is a given in a project of this size. There will be items that will need to be addressed that are beyond the control of the contractor and the contractors' legally entitled to a change order request. The City Manager has already set up a small allowance which was reflected in the amount being reserved for this project. Councilman Cooper asked City Manager Barlow had set aside for contingency. City Manager Barlow explained the $2 million in front of them considered 10o for change orders. They had $187,900 for 5 Council Regular Meeting November 1, 2010 potential change orders. He spoke of having over $200,000 in fire impact fees, which he wanted to use for potential change orders. Mr. Blaise informed Council any change to the contract had to come before Council for approval. Any change order would come forward for their consideration. City Manager Barlow further commented on Fire Station #57 which was built in 1999. Councilman Cooper stated he was assuming that any additional equipment was included in the bid. Fire Chief Cousins confirmed any items they would need for this were included. Councilwoman Bennington asked when they bid contracts like this why they don't have the contractors already build in a change order cushion themselves. She understood because they would use it all but if they give it to them with the bid saying they were allowing that much for change orders. Mr. Blaise explained one way to do that was set up a cash allowance in the contract for $187,000 and that allowance would be included in the bid award and they would basically charge against that. He commented on problems associated with doing this. He felt Council should have the vote on items that are substantial that should be approved by them prior to moving forward which he felt was a more transparent system. Mayor Thomas stated if everything goes as expected that bid would stand. Councilwoman Bennington expressed concern with the contractor already knowing they have a 10o cushion. Mr. Blaise was hoping not to get into it. Councilwoman Bennington then commented on awarding a contractor a bonus for coming in under his bid instead of having a change order. Mr. Blaise commented on being able to do that by putting cash incentives into a contract. He further spoke of having a very detailed set of plans and the scope of the bids. He likes the concept of holding a bidder to a hard and fast number. If something comes up and they are truly and legally entitled, then yes, they can bring it to Council and they can make the decision. City Manager Barlow pointed out many times it's the customers that create the need for the change orders. Councilwoman Rogers asked what the amount was of the design fee that was paid initially. She spoke of the citizens thinking the total cost is $2,066,900 which was in the newspaper but they have already paid the design fee. She felt it should be put out there with this so if anybody is every looking back at this in the future especially since they are looking at approving debt not to exceed $750,000 going forward. The debt they have incurred for this possible fire station replacement is more than the $750,000. She was concerned because of what is going on with the economy. She referred to an article put in their mailboxes by City Manager Barlow with regard to Port Orange being written up in the newspaper for giving up impact fees to have 6 Council Regular Meeting November 1, 2010 incentives for businesses. They need to pay attention to what is going on in Port Orange. Their City Manager, who has been around for a number of years, who is praised by other City Managers in the State and County, wanted to get the city and County of Volusia to talk about consolidation of fire services. If that doesn't work he is talking of doing cuts within the Fire Department. Here they are going to build a fire station and going to incur debt of $750,000. They aren't even talking about the fact they have already paid for design fees. She knew the design fees were presented to Council that the funds were there. They spent the funds which means the funds aren't there for something else that could possibly come up. Now they are talking about using fire impact fees to pay for potential change orders. There will be change orders. An estimate is just that an estimate and they really don't know what something is going to cost until it is done and there will always been the unforeseen. This is their last time as a Council to look at this. The grant has not been accepted and they were given this evening a recent current City of Edgewater debt spreadsheet. She saw where they had Fire Station #55 interest and asked if that was the $750,000 interest debt spread out over 20 years. City Manager Barlow identified where the principle and interest payments were identified in the debt schedule. Councilwoman Rogers wanted it put out in the open that they have already spent just under $200,000 for the design fee, plus the $2,066,900, plus the interest. The City would pay about $1.2 million to pay for the Fire Station. She felt they had to look at the big picture and referred to what Port Orange was doing. She suggested the Council be objective instead of subjective. They are going into some tough times and are now going to spend another $1.2 million of which they have already spent $200,000, give or take the change orders. She commented on why she felt building a fire station didn't make sense. She questioned what would happen if the City eventually got involved in doing fire station consolidation. If they do consolidate, are they going to ask the other departments to pay part of their debt or is the City going to be on the hook to pay for it and then consolidate later. She felt this didn't make sense, they weren't being wise and they weren't being objective and looking to the future the way they should be. Mayor Thomas felt they needed to look for the need. He asked Fire Chief Steve Cousins what year the building was built. Fire Chief Cousins estimated it was built in the 1950's. Mayor Thomas asked if it was built by volunteers. Fire Chief Cousins informed him it was. Mayor Thomas asked if it was up to Code. Fire Chief Cousins informed him not the current Code. Mayor Thomas asked if it was up to current wind standards. Fire Chief Cousins informed him no. Mayor Thomas asked if the firefighters were sleeping in not regulated places. Fire Chief Cousins informed him they have issues with the building. 7 Council Regular Meeting November 1, 2010 Mayor Thomas stated he didn't like the debt either. He didn't feel they could turn $1.5 million down. He is going to support this project. He commented on the City's debt when he started compared to what the debt is now. He felt they were going in the right direction. He questioned how many grants were awarded in the State of Florida for fire stations. Fire Chief Cousins informed him six. Mayor Thomas stated and they were one of them and they are very fortunate. Councilwoman Rogers asked David Arcieri how old the police station was. Captain Arcieri informed her it was built in the 1950's. Councilwoman Rogers asked if it was up to Code. Captain Arcieri informed her they don't sleep there and it was up to Code for their day -to -day operations. Councilwoman Rogers felt this City was ignoring certain things that Port Orange was doing and they kind of pick and choose what they are doing and try to follow suit meaning the impact fees and the reduction of impact fees to attract business to the City of Edgewater but yet whenever the City of Port Orange is trying to do something different to try and fix a problem in the budget in the future fire station, they ignore that. They applaud them on one hand but they ignore them on another. Fire Chief Cousins pointed out they just built two fire stations within the last twelve months. Councilwoman Rogers stated and they are realizing there is a mistake and they are looking at consolidating. Fire Chief Cousins felt they were confusing consolidation with there is a need. The need for the fire station is there. He felt they were confusing the need for the fire station and how their fire service as a whole looks. He spoke of the opportunity being here. Mayor Thomas questioned which departments responded to the three fires on Maytown Road. Fire Chief Cousins informed him Brevard County, Volusia County, and Edgewater. Mayor Thomas had three arson inspectors, the City Fire Marshal, the State Fire Marshal and the County Fire Marshal there. He further commented on already working together and it being a team effort. Councilwoman Bennington commented on it being hard to get the fire trucks in the bays. Fire Chief Cousins commented on having to special order fire trucks that will fit in the bays and still not having room to walk all around them in the bays. Councilwoman Bennington felt they were being objective when looking at this. The Fire Department knew they had a problem and took the time and energy to apply for this grant. It was approved. The City is getting $1.4 million. She further commented on Edgewater outgrowing that station. She felt they would be remiss if they didn't take this opportunity and give the people what they need. Whether they consolidate or not, they are still going to need the Fire Station and it will have to be up to Code. They can't function much longer with the current Fire Station. She is 100% for this. In this economy, they are getting the best 8 Council Regular Meeting November 1, 2010 price they could possibly get. She didn't think it would be negligent on their part to do this now. They would be negligent if they didn't do it now. She would like to be able to do the Police Station too but the need isn't as great as the Fire Station. Fire Chief Cousins informed her they feel they have designed the most efficient, cost effective fire station that would work for them now and in the future. They feel they are getting the best prices they can get. In the future those prices are going to be more. He also commented on not getting the loan any cheaper than what they are getting it and that is why they feel they should take advantage of it. Councilwoman Rogers stated she knows they have an excellent Fire Department and Police Department. She told City Manager Barlow going forward he could find something in the future that he could start cutting back so perhaps this debt doesn't hit the City the way it is planned out on the spreadsheet. The costs are rampant. She referred to what is going on with the pensions and the stock market. Something has got to be done. It's a shame that they are getting the grant but still having to put in almost the same amount of money. It's so hard to fathom when she sees the number of foreclosures the city has and the people that are losing jobs. We will have a pretty fire station but no citizens to live here. City Manager Barlow commented on the debt schedule and this being a projection clear out to 2030 as it related to their debt today. The next couple of years they are going to struggle. He was putting things in place that would help that out. He commented on a position that would be frozen for a Fire Lieutenant that was retiring, where those proceeds would be used to cover that debt service. He then commented on consolidation and would it happen and if it does when it happens. He commented on consolidation being a discussion issue since 1989 but there hasn't been enough interest, including locally, by City Council to really even get serious about discussing that. He then commented on the Fire Station being an asset and having the opportunity to lease that back to whatever Fire Department is in charge of this area or they could convert it into another City building, such as a City Hall or whatever their needs are at that time. He wanted Council to see the big picture as it related to their debt service. He spoke of working hard to reduce the debt. Councilman Cooper asked if the grant was $1.4 million or $1.141 million. Fire Chief Cousins confirmed it was $1.141 million. Councilman Cooper then pointed out their debt service drops 40% in almost two years. He can afford the fire station in two years. A $1.141 million grant sure does a heck of a lot of renovation in his book and that expense to take on through the next two years where it was pointed out are going to be leaner than heck and they are all scared to death and speculating. He would love to build the fire station in two years. He asked how long the grant could run and if they could get an extension. Fire Chief Cousins informed him they had 9 Council Regular Meeting November 1, 2010 24 months left on the grant. Councilman Cooper commented on not accepting the grant and asked when the clock starts. Fire Chief Cousins informed him from the time they receive that award, they have a 36 month window. Acceptance comes when they officially proceed with this and ask for the check but the clock starts ticking from the time they have notified them that this is available to them. Councilman Cooper asked if he could take that grant on month 23 and start building. Fire Chief Cousins informed him that was the completion date. Councilman Cooper asked if they had ever asked for an extension. Fire Chief Cousins informed him they had not. This is a new grant. They have asked for an extension in the past for some staffing and they were turned down. Mayor Thomas commented on being able to borrow the money at a cheaper rate and a cheaper rate on the construction, yes, why not. Councilman Cooper commented on getting another new fire station at the build out of Restoration. City Manager Barlow explained the $1.141 was for the reconstruction of the station. He then commented on the purpose of the federal grant being to put people back to work. They can't put a bandaid on this fire station and anticipate bulldozing it later. This has to be to reconstruct the fire station or not. Councilman Cooper commented on employing people from Bradenton to build it and not helping anybody here. He wished they could find out if they could extend this a little bit for the citizens debt service. Right now he is scared to death to add more taxes on the people. Councilwoman Rogers commented on the prices and unit costs and didn't feel it was a deal. She questioned what the unit cost would have been if this would have been a great time. Mr. Blaise estimated they were seeing about a 30o reduction. There was then a discussion regarding a lot of the subcontractors that were named being local subcontractors. Once the subcontractors are listed they have to maintain and keep those subcontractors so they can't shop the subcontractors after the bid. Mr. Blaise further commented on the numbers being good and the bids being tight. There was then a discussion regarding seeing a savings in the cost of the material. Mr. Blaise commented on the general contractors wanting to keep their core group of people together. He spoke of general contractors taking a job with very bare bones profit just to keep cash flow to keep the business afloat until things turn around. Mayor Thomas asked for citizen comments. The following citizens spoke: 10 Council Regular Meeting November 1, 2010 Bob Overton, 613 Starboard Avenue, stated he was on a fixed income. He spoke of winning a new BMW convertible and having to turn it down because he couldn't afford to pay the taxes on it. He felt the City was in the same position. He felt the Council needed to think about where the money was going to come from ultimately that they are going to pay for the fire station. He wasn't saying they didn't need it. It's a bad economic time. He told Council they needed to also think about if there is a consolidation of fire departments within Volusia County, when is that going to occur, if ever and will this facility be a viable facility when that occurs. He feels the Council was in a very difficult position in terms of trying to resolve this issue but they have to think about the things he mentioned. Mayor Thomas asked if it was going to raise their taxes. City Manager Barlow explained the goal was going into the FY 2011 budget year was to try to present a budget where they can reduce the ad valorem taxes. That was a goal but until they got the property appraiser's evaluation of the properties that was just a guess. It wouldn't guarantee a raise in the tax. Jim Brown, 141 Oak Ridge Avenue, commented on the Council discussing five different fire station sizes. The Council chose the most expensive one to build. He commented on the fifth option costing the City zero. He asked if it was possible to go back and look at this and go slightly smaller with a way to add an addition later. City Manager Barlow commented on providing options to Council. He believed they gave them direction on Option 1 and Option 2. With the direction of the majority of Council, if they tell him to go back and redesign and rebid and come back then he would do that. Councilwoman Bennington commented on adding more cost. City Manager Barlow commented on having more design costs and also the time crunch factor involved with starting the process all over again and only having 24 months left to complete the project and it being about a 300 day build from the time they tell them to turn dirt. Councilman Cooper commented on the five designs that were presented to Council being brought forward in a modular type effect being able to add on as they went along and that being part of the design package. Fire Chief Cousins explained for the top and second option there could be a component of one modular piece. He wouldn't support or recommend the zero cost due to it being smaller than what they have now. They spoke about the modular component being the office space. Councilwoman Bennington stated they voted and told them what to do. Councilman Cooper felt it was obvious the way he described the square footage the only plan they were actually recommending was plan five, which is what was in front of them now. He would love to have them have their fire station but he wanted them to ask for it two years from now when he can afford it and do it without raising the taxes to 11 Council Regular Meeting November 1, 2010 the people. He didn't want to lose the grant money either and hoped there was some sort of compromise that could be made. Fire Chief Cousins stated they are in a tough situation. The reason they have this opportunity with the grant is because of the way the economy is now. This grant was surrounded around creating jobs, spending money and putting it back out there. Don Garner, 2703 Tamarind Drive, asked City Manager Barlow if the numbers that are being given to them are the entire expense for the project. City Manager Barlow informed him yes, and that 10% was factored in for change orders. Mr. Garner asked where the staff at the fire station would go while the building is being reconstructed. City Manager Barlow commented on the City owning two residential structures adjacent to it. One would be knocked down and the fire crew would be housed out of the other one. Councilwoman Rogers stated that wasn't the cost for everything because it didn't include the $180,000 design fee that was already paid up front. Agnes Whitter, 223 Flagler Avenue, asked if they had looked at the worst case scenario. What if Edgewater experiences another round of heavy foreclosures that reduces their tax base and when the first payment comes due if they don't draw enough taxes to make that payment, have they got a Plan B of what they can do and what would be cut. Are they going to increase taxes? Councilman Cooper stated if they do run the 19% reduction on property values like they are talking about again, that will give them less tax and to pay for it they will have to tax the people. Will they reduce the taxes in 2 years when their debt service is real low, he didn't know but he has never seen taxes come down in his life and he is 60 years old. He then mentioned being short one Councilperson tonight. This is a very important issue. He spoke of seeing new faces after tomorrow. He would like to postpone this. He asked if Amendment 4 passes, wouldn't this fall under something that would have to go to referendum. City Manager Barlow stated if Amendment 4 was to pass with greater than 60% of the voters, it only had to do with Comprehensive Plan Amendments. That had no influence on this. City Manager Barlow advised the Council the bids were only good for 90 days. He commented on when they shopped the RFP for the loan that was only good for 45 days. If it is an affirmative action tonight to move forward, at the November 15 meeting, they would bring the resolution back for the loan. If they postpone it until the next meeting, they would probably have to have a Special Meeting between November 15 and December 4 which was when they had to close on the loan. 12 Council Regular Meeting November 1, 2010 There was a brief discussion regarding all of the Councilmembers being present before a decision is made. Councilwoman Rogers stated they keep talking about in another 2 or 2/12 years it was going to get better. They don't have a crystal ball and they don't know. They have to do what they have to do to minimize the risk. She was curious to find out if they could get an extension. She spoke of the federal government being lenient and messing up on a lot of things. She felt they needed to make a decision tonight. Councilwoman Bennington felt they had beaten this to death. She was ready to vote but didn't want to take a chance on it being killed. She would rather have Councilwoman Rhodes' input one last time. She would like them to have a Special Meeting when a majority of the Council could come together. Councilman Cooper asked City Attorney Ansay for some advice. In the interim he would like to know if they could ask some important questions on an extension. Councilwoman Bennington felt they needed to bite the bullet. This is something that has been before them and the majority of the Council told them which option to go with and now they are asking for them to approve this. The loan has been set and waiting. They aren't doing their job if they keep postponing it. Councilwoman Rogers felt if they rushed and made a decision, they are not doing their job. They have to be objective. Councilman Cooper asked if they could ask to look and see about an extension. City Attorney Ansay felt Fire Chief Cousins had the ability to contact those at the federal government but didn't know how quickly he would get an answer to that question. If their desire is to get additional information on the extension, they would have two options, either table the agenda items before them or they could move to continue it to a time certain identifying the date, or pick a date that would be set specifically for that purpose. There was a brief discussion regarding when to schedule a Special Meeting. John Zino, 718 Navigators Way, stated it seems to him that the first thing that needed to be acknowledged was that there was a need for a facility. Once they acknowledge there is a need for a facility then prudent judgment tells you you take the best opportunity you can to do it. If there is stimulus money available because of the economy, even though it would incur some level of debt for the City, consider what the level of debt would be without the stimulus money. He suggested they might want to take the opportunity to take advantage of the stimulus money even if they incur some debt. It seems to him as 13 Council Regular Meeting November 1, 2010 though the need is critical. If need is critical and money is available, it would not be prudent to pass up the funds. He spoke of there not being a better time to go out and incur debt and negotiate with contractors than now. Councilwoman Rogers stated that discussion sounded good but she didn't think he heard the beginning of the discussion regarding the high potential of consolidation of fire services. Mayor Thomas entertained a motion. Councilwoman Bennington moved to approve the new fire station. The motion DIED due to the lack of a second. Councilwoman Rogers made a motion that they have to vote and direct someone to look to find out if they can get an extension on this grant. They aren't saying throw it away but it hasn't been looked at. Councilwoman Bennington suggested she make the motion to table it until they get that information. Councilwoman Rogers stated that may very well put them into the next year. She commented on not knowing how long it will take the federal government to get back to them. Fire Chief Cousins stated if that was the direction, they would start making phone calls tomorrow. He wasn't sure if they would have an answer by November 15 Councilman Cooper wanted Fire Chief Cousins to take all the time he needed to get every bit of information he could. Councilwoman Rogers made a motion to continue this until November 15 unless Fire Chief Cousins finds out prior to the 15 and then they will call a Special Meeting, second by Councilwoman Bennington. The MOTION CARRIED 4 -0. B. Authorization for staff to prepare the debt resolutions and closing documents for Guaranteed Entitlement Revenue Note, Series 2010 to finance the replacement Fire Station 55 in the amount not to exceed $750,000 City Manager Barlow recommended they do the same thing with Item 10B that they did with Item 10A. Councilwoman Bennington made a motion to table this until November 15 unless the information comes back prior and then they will have a Special Meeting, second by Councilwoman Rogers. The MOTION CARRIED 4 -0. Councilman Cooper called a point of discussion and asked when they are given the information on the loan, that they were given three options. 14 Council Regular Meeting November 1, 2010 He asked to have the payment structure for all three and the annual or monthly. He would love to see the fixed rate verses the 15 and 20 year bumps on the interest rate. City Manager Barlow asked if he just wanted BB &T. Councilman Cooper informed him yes. 11. OFFICER REPORTS A. City Clerk City Clerk Wenzel had nothing at this time. B. City Attorney City Attorney Ansay had nothing at this time. C. City Manager City Manager Barlow had nothing at this time. 12. CITIZEN COMMENTS The following citizens spoke: Jim Brown, 141 Oak Ridge Avenue, wanted to thank the two Councilmembers that would no longer be on the Council for their time. Daniel Blazi, Edgewater Police Department, stated he was remiss and had left out the City of Edgewater Leisure Services in reference to the fall Festival /Haunted Forest. Leo Towsley, 2828 Unity Tree Drive, asked if the City was doing anything about getting the banks to fix up some of the houses in Florida Shores that were in foreclosure. It is starting to look ghetto and is bringing down other people's property values. Councilwoman Rogers mentioned Bank of America and Chase were stopping foreclosures due to paperwork mistakes and fraud going on. She didn't think the City could get involved. City Manager Barlow stated they couldn't make the banks resell the homes but they have been very aggressive on the Code Enforcement side. They are very actively pursuing them. 13. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, Councilwoman Rogers moved to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 7:44 p.m. Minutes submitted by: 15 Council Regular Meeting November 1, 2010 Lisa Bloomer, CMC Attest: APPROVED: City of Edgewater, Florida Bonnie Wenzel, City Clerk Michael L. Thomas, Mayor 16 Council Regular Meeting November 1, 2010