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05-01-1997 - Special .....,. ....., CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER SPECIAL MEETING MAY 1, 1997 7:00 P.M. COMMUNITY CENTER MINUTES CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Hayman called the Special Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Center. ROLL CALL: Mayor Jack Hayman Councilman Danny Hatfield Councilwoman Louise Martin Councilman Michael Hays Councilman David Mitchum City Attorney Krista Storey city Manager George McMahon City Clerk Susan Wadsworth Police Chief Lawrence Schumaker Present Arrived at 7:21 p.m. Present Present Present Arrived at 7:04 p.m. Present Present Present MEETING PURPOSE: Mayor Hayman stated the purpose of the meeting is to discuss Volusia County's proposed utility system for Southeast Volusia County. Mayor Hayman explained they agreed they needed a meeting to devise a strategy, hold the presentation at Hacienda Del Rio, allow staff to review the after action of that meeting and to come to Council with ideas and suggestions on what the City's strategy should be regarding this matter. Assessment of utilities proposals currently being considered (County proposals for Terra Mar, Hacienda Del Rio, Oak Hill. South Waterfront Park. and Indian Harbor Estates) A. City's legal position and discussion of environmental concerns City Manager McMahon feels it is important for Council to assess the situation. He spoke about the interlocal agreement the city currently has in effect between the County and the City of Edgewater and Ordinance 88-0-12. City Manager McMahon elaborated on the County proposals for Terra Mar, Hacienda Del Rio, Oak Hill, South Waterfront Park, and Indian Harbor Estates. city Manager McMahon commented on two options being open to the County, either work out some arrangement with the city or provide a wastewater facility. City Manager McMahon spoke about the City's financial return being very important on whatever investments the city has. city Manager McMahon would like Council to look at the major objectives the City is trying to accomplish and for Council to come to a consensus and provide direction. City Manager McMahon stated the involvement of City personnel is not an out of pocket expense but the involvement of professional people will be and this is not budgeted or accounted for. He suggested Council set limits. City Manager McMahon agreed to come back with a recommendation after this is discussed by Council. .." ...., utilities Director Terry Wadsworth commented on the rerating of the Wastewater Plant going through last Friday. The City received the paperwork from the Department of Environmental Protection so it is officially rated at 2.75 MGD right now. The reuse area has been expanded to 3.66 MGD. He commented on increasing the plant capacity for future growth in and outside the City. Mr. Wadsworth feels after talking to several homeowners associations and independent citizens of Southeast Volusia County, there is a lot of interest in the City providing service to Southeast Volusia. City Manager McMahon informed Council Attorney Bayer was present and called on him to assess this legally as to what he feels. There was no objection from Council. Dennis Bayer, Attorney, presented a brief overview of some of the issues facing the City from a legal perspective. He has not had an opportunity to look at the agreement between the City and County so he cannot provide any advice on the effect of the agreement, what rights the City has under it and what steps the City can take to enforce it. Attorney Bayer presented comments regarding environmental legal issues with the County. He feels the action plan put together by staff looks like the best initial approach to work it out with the County. Attorney Bayer referred to Florida Statutes, Chapter 403 and informed Council they could file a verified pleading with DEP stating the City has an interest in what is being done and that there will be an adverse impact to the environment by what is being proposed by the County. Attorney Bayer suggested the City request from the environmental agencies that the City be put on notice as to any further action that is done by DEP. city Manager McMahon informed Council Gerry Hartman was present. He further spoke about the interlocal agreement which sets forth the service area that we have and the County has. Proposal for City to serve areas Gerry Hartman, Hartman & Associates, informed Council Troy Layton and Hal Schmidt were also present. He presented an action plan to Council. Mr. Hartman explained these matters are best handled by an olive branch in service areas. He feels in the issues of service area and customer growth, in our case, for our facilities, it makes so much more sense that the County, if notified of it, would not be acting prudently in the service of their customers not to consider a lower cost higher quality service. It only makes sense in the utility business to go the lowest cost provider with the highest possible quality service. Mr. Hartman stated the present County commissioners may not know that the City has a 180 reserve area. Elected officials that come in don't know everything in the past. He feels the first action would be to inform the County of the City having a 180 service area and it has been agreed to and affirmed by the city Council and to notify the County the City is willing and able to provide wholesale services when there is a demand. Page -2- Council special Meeting May 1, 1997 ~ ~ Mr. Hartman spoke about Lady Lake building a $3.5 million program for 100 customers. If it wasn't for the Community Development District, the villages around Lady Lake, needing to refinance its bonds, that city would have been crushed. Mr. Hartman feels the city needs to contact the County Commissioners with individual meetings and discuss this in a rational and calm fashion. Provide the County Commissioners and Staff with an interlocal agreement that says when the County has the demand the City will have the facilities. Mr. Hartman stated the more customers we have on our systems dampens future rate requirements and also lowers the overall cost for everyone. Mr. Hartman informed Council of the cooperative program they have laid out. He briefly spoke about the cost figures. Mayor Hayman summarized Mr. Hartman's presentation. City Manager McMahon explained the interlocal agreement provides the framework for doing what Mr. Hartman was talking about. The only thing missing is developing the bulk rate and getting the commitment of the County to make an informed financial decision as to what is best for them. Mr. Hartman spoke about if the County decides to build their own system, he feels it would be a duty to the public that Council may have, to at least formally notice them of the cost savings they could have had. Mayor HaYman stated it has been suggested that Council affirm through consensus by vote the intentions and our commitment to the October 3, 1994 agreement. Councilwoman Martin so moved for discussion, second by Councilman Hays. Councilwoman Martin feels we need to go forward with the agreement. Councilman Hays read from an article in the newspaper. He believes it is the intent of the County to develop a wastewater and water facility in that area. He would like to extend the olive branch. He feels they have tried to do that on many occasions. He does not know what the City could do to make the County more aware. Councilman Hays commented on everyone benefitting from the improvements the City has made. He feels if we can't get the County Council to sit down and come to an agreement and look at what is best for Southeast Volusia County, then he proposes the permitting process be challenged. He feels the contamination of the ground water in that area and the wildlife are issues that need to be looked at. Councilman Hays spoke about correspondence he read where no County tax dollars have been spent on this project. He questioned where the money came from. He spoke about double taxation to the citizens of Edgewater. City Manager McMahon spoke about one way the County could finance the project internally is through internal funds, transferring from one agency fund to another agency fund. Councilman Hays stated if the County could show him how their development of utility service would decrease our County tax bill, he would look at it favorably. He feels the Council needs to deal with the County Council and not County staff. Page -3- Council Special Meeting May 1, 1997 .....,. ...... Mayor Hayman spoke about Item 8 - Meet with County in a joint session workshop on the action plan. Councilman Hays feels a list of questions needs to be sent to the County so they would be prepared to answer them at a workshop. Councilwoman Martin suggested getting the public involved. Mayor Hayman commented on previous meetings with different associations. Councilman Hatfield asked if they have discussed what happened at the meeting with Hacienda Del Rio. Mayor Hayman briefed Councilman Hatfield on who attended and what happened at that meeting. staff made the same presentation that was made at the meeting with the City of Oak Hill. Councilman Hatfield asked if the City throws out the olive branch, does the County Council seem to be receptive. He feels the meeting with the County is imperative. We have to know where they stand. Mayor Hayman spoke about comments made by County Councilman Jim Ward at the meeting with Hacienda Del Rio. City Manager McMahon spoke about a meeting with the City Council and County Council in Deland approximately three years ago where the basics were hammered out for the interlocal agreement. He feels they need to layout a figure in front of the County and let them take that figure and decide whether that figure is financially workable or not. Councilman Mitchum is all for the action plan as presented. He is ready to put this to rest. He feels it needs to be laid out one more time. The City of Edgewater can justify its position as to where we stand on this. We have presented what we think is best for the citizens of Southeast Volusia County. He is not for spending a lot more money on this. He feels the County Council is responsible to the citizens and the City needs to keep up the pressure to the people who make the decisions. If the County Council makes the wrong decision, they are going to have to live with that. The people of Southeast Volusia are going to suffer. We have done all we can do. He would be willing to take a look at challenging the permit process. city Manager McMahon explained the two critical steps to make sure Council would by consensus confirm and authorize are Item 6 - HAl to develop detailed rate proposal to County for wholesale utility service & Item 7 - Provide detail justification on potential savings to County for wholesale service provided by Edgewater of the action plan. Councilman Mitchum spoke about the City of Titusville being interested in water in Southeast Volusia County. Mayor Hayman suggested instead of having a workshop, they have a special Meeting. Mr. Hartman spoke about the burden of proof and protecting the water resources. He informed Council they do have a bond issue where representations were made. We have not infringed on the County's financing mechanisms but by going into our service area they are infringing upon ours. Consensus of Council on objectives and plan of action to address County's proposals Mayor Hayman stated the motion on the floor is the city recognizes the importance of the significance of the October 3, 1994 interlocal agreement. Motion made by Councilwoman Martin, second by Councilman Hays. The motion CARRIED 5-0. Page -4- Council Special Meeting May 1, 1997 '-' """'" Councilman Mitchum made a motion to accept the action plan and proceed post haste, second by Councilman Hays. Mayor Hayman asked to include in the motion they have a Special Meeting instead of a workshop. The motion CARRIED 5-0. Councilman Hays asked about retaining Attorney Bayer's services for the future if we need to. Councilman Hays made a motion to affirm that we will need the services of Hartman & Associates and for Attorney Bayer to be on retainage, second by Councilman Hatfield. The motion CARRIED 5-0. Mayor Hayman asked about the treatment cost schedule. city Manager McMahon stated our plant is prepared to deliver a capacity beyond what it was originally constructed for by the rerating. We need to equate that to a dollar and cent figure for the treatment per gallon or per thousand gallons. Mr. Hartman agreed to go back and develop that so the City can propose that in a formal proposal to the County. Mr. Wadsworth stated he received a letter April 10th from Terry Henry posing several questions on the utility system in the City. We responded with twenty pages of answers and we did include a note that we would be following up with additional questions. If the Council wanted to forward earlier questions, they could be combined and sent under one cover. City Manager McMahon feels the package sent to the County should be inclusive. City Manager McMahon commented on the major objective of the City to be accomplished. Mayor Hayman spoke about BATNA - Best Alternative to Negotiated Agreement. He encouraged everyone to think about their BATNA between now and the next time they meet. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to discuss, Councilman Mitchum moved to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 8:11 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Lisa Kruckmeyer Page -5- Council Special Meeting May 1, 1997