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09-24-2001 - Special ~ ..."" CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER SPECIAL MEETING SEPTEMBER 24, 2001 7:00 P.M. COMMUNITY CENTER MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Mayor Schmidt called the special Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Center. ROLL CALL Mayor Donald Schmidt Councilman James Brown Councilman Dennis Vincenzi Councilwoman Harriet Rhodes Councilwoman Judith Lichter City Manager Kenneth Hooper City Clerk Susan Wadsworth Legal Assistant Robin Matusick Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Hold public hearinqs on Ord. No. 2001-0-55. amendinq the city Budget for the Fiscal Year endinq September 2001; Ord. No. 2001- 0-58. adoptinq final millaqe rate of 5.95 mills per $1.000 of assessed taxable value and Ord. No. 2001-0-56. adopting final budqet for fiscal year 2001/02 city Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. There was a brief discussion regarding there being a $1,000 difference in the amount that is requested from the non-profit entities and the amount budgeted. Councilwoman Lichter had a question for the gentleman from Meals on Wheels. Mayor Schmidt asked Mr. Geno to come forward. Councilwoman Lichter stated she thought she didn't have handy the original paper. She asked Mr. Geno when he gave them the original amount of people in Edgewater that gets served with Meals on Wheels,how many he said it was. Mr. Geno stated when he originally spoke to the Council it was a little over 100. A lot of the people have gone back up north. The figures he gave last time amounted to 80 people from Edgewater and they were here year round. Councilwoman Lichter asked if some people pay for their meals and some needing assistance. Mr. Geno stated in Edgewater, New Smyrna and Oak Hill combined they have 12 full-paid clients. He didn't have an exact breakdown on that. They pay $4.50 to have their meals delivered. These people do not qualify under the Elder American Act for a donation only program. with the other people they ask for a donation. Councilwoman Lichter asked, ~out of the 80 Edgewater people, are people giving half of the money?' Mr. Geno stated they average on Meals on Wheels and the dining program, compositely, about $1. 07 . Councilwoman Licther asked if they give on a sliding scale. Mr. Geno stated there is no sliding scale, it is donation only. They average between $20 and $25 per month per person for Meals on Wheels and that is approximately what they are averaging on the dining side also. '-' ...." Councilwoman Rhodes asked about there being a waiting list. Mr. Geno informed her right now it is 112 people for the dining side and 60 some people for Meals on Wheels. Councilwoman Rhodes referred to a breakdown from Gail Campitaro and she has that there are 37 Edgewater residents on the waiting list for congregate dining. She asked if Edgewater contributes if the 37 people come off the waiting list or is this money just for what they already have. Mr. Geno stated what they are trying to do is increase the amount of people they are allowed to serve. The problem they are running into at the present time is he is about $50,000 short this year for Edgewater and New Smyrna to finish out the year. He is trying to raise money and will have all the fund raisers he can have between now and the end of January but he needs all the help he can get. He stated if Council gave him the help he could not bring the 37 people off the waiting list. Councilwoman Lichter stated she sits on the Southeast Volusia Senior Advisory Board and they are planning a big fund raiser. Mr. Geno stated he has three fund raisers scheduled between now and January 20th. Councilwoman Lichter stated they are doing what they can but this is a tight budget in the sense that they have not increased taxes and they are first and foremost going to have to meet the needs of the general departments for the city. She was trying to break this down to see exactly how many Edgewater citizens they serve. Councilwoman Rhodes stated 65. Mr. Geno stated 80 is what he is serving at this time. Councilwoman Rhodes stated 23 are getting Meals on Wheels. Mr. Geno stated that is incorrect. The last figure he gave the Council is the corrected figure. The 38 is correct. He stated Gail did not realize they have more than one route in Edgewater. He has two complete routes and two with part of the people on it in the Edgewater City limits. Councilwoman Rhodes asked how many people in Edgewater are receiving Meals on Wheels. Mr. Geno stated there are 38 on Meals on Wheels and 42 on congregate dining. Councilwoman Rhodes stated she has 65 on the congregate dining. Councilwoman Lichter stated when they are coming up with a figure, it's the best they can for things that are beyond their normal scope. Some of the department's needs aren't even met all the time. If they give a sum at this moment, in a sense it is a token sum and is not going to meet the deficit they appear to have. She thinks it would be helpful in the future for the Council to plan if they knew actually how many Edgewater people are getting Meals on Wheels, how many are doing congregate dining, how much they are being subsidized by the government and how much by other things and what their down fall is and that will help them early in the season plan for the budget. She is going to do what Finance Director Michele Goins recommends. Mr. Geno stated no matter what help he gets, he really appreciates it. Anything he gets will help and he is doing what he can to help the people of Edgewater to raise more money. City Manager Hooper spoke of this being an evolving process over how they have worked with those who have sought funds from the Council. Last year they were batch presented. This year there has been a little more scrutiny. If Council wants, they can look at those as if they were a departmental budget and start to scrutinize that. They have taken a hands-off approach because they are non-profit and coming directly to Council. If the Council would like them to look for next year's budget at their books and information, they can certainly do that. Page -2- Council Special Meeting September 24, 2001 ~ 'WI Councilman Vincenzi would like to see City Manager Hooper do that but he would also like to see him contact them and let them know he is working on the budget and tell them to put their requests in. He would also like to see a prioritization. He feels some of the expenditures they could do away with and some can be increased. City Manager Hooper stated they sent a notice to anyone that has been before Council in the past to reactive their application but they have not done much of a screening or priority. He agreed to, if Council wished, make some recommendations to them over what he thinks from a public point of view is a good expenditure of public funds. Councilwoman Rhodes feels three of the requests belong in the private sector, not the public sector. She feels Meals on Wheels as well as Travelers Aid belongs in the private sector. Councilwoman Lichter feels it depends on how you look at social services which they don't have a category for. She feels part of making the decision would be to identify the Council's role which she feels they don't have as a City. She doesn't take Councilwoman Rhodes' viewpoint either because she feels there are some citizens that are not reached by churches and do become part of the responsibility of the whole. Councilwoman Rhodes stated it doesn't necessarily have to be by a church. It could be by any charitable organization. She doesn't think they have ever, in the ten years she has watched these meetings in the audience, had a clear definition of what is what. She feels they need their own identity with their own citizens. This is part of home rule. city Manager Hooper explained the process they are going through right now is probably in all of the cities in the County government. Either Council picks the priority or they direct him to pick the priority and at this time these are not prioritized. Councilman Vincenzi feels that is something someone needs to do. Councilwoman Rhodes asked City Manager Hooper if he wants the Council to prioritize. City Manager Hooper stated either that or tell him to go away and bring these back. The Council has a budget of $9,600 allocated for this. They have defined right now the request is $1,000. They need to take $1,000 out of that. Councilwoman Rhodes feels he needs to increase their budget and that solves the problem but she realizes he isn't going to do that. She asked if, since they just established the scholarship this year, could they not make it a $1,000 scholarship and increase it next year and maybe continue to increase it. Mayor Schmidt informed her no. Councilwoman Lichter stated if you want to go back in history, what the role of government is. It is for the defense, which she feels defense should be number one, and safety should be number two, fire and police. Those are really the most crucial roles in government. Councilman Brown recommended they drop the Indian River Fishing Club, they lower the plaques from $1,000 to $500, and the Pop Warner be lowered from $350 to $300 which brings them $2 of being within their budget. Councilwoman Rhodes disagreed. She agreed with the Indian River Fishing Club. Mayor Schmidt asked if there is anyone present from the Indian River Fishing Club. Page -3- Council Special Meeting September 24, 2001 "-' ""'" Carol Digmon, New Smyrna Beach Board of Realtors, stated she had something that might help the Council with the decision making process with regard to Meals on Wheels. She stated they are doing their second annual fund raiser this year called the Spelling Bee. Their donations last year went to the YMCA and to the Sports Complex. They were able to raise $6,000 with the bulk going to those two organizations. They are going to plan on doing it as an annual fund raiser every year. This is their second and they have added Meals on Wheels as one of their beneficiaries. She feels a community has a social responsibility to our seniors. She hopes Edgewater will join them. New Smyrna has joined them and was with them last year. They have their first teacher team this year. She went on to speak about the Spelling Bee. It costs $300 to form a team. They would be grateful for any donation the City could give towards this fund raiser. Councilwoman Lichter asked if she is proposing that in addition to the amount of money they have suggested. Ms. Digmon stated she received a phone call from George earlier today and she came to make the proposal to see if the city would like to put together a team. Councilwoman Lichter asked for Mayor Schmidt's reasoning behind the $2,000 for scholarships. Mayor Schmidt stated New Smyrna Beach High School is made up of well over 50% of kids from Edgewater. New Smyrna does eight scholarships for the kids. He thought it's about time Edgewater gets involved with education. He didn't think four scholarships at $500 a piece was that much. City Manager Hooper feels there are three items that stand out that are easy to reduce or eliminate that have minimal impact on the public; the Fishing Club, the Employee Appreciation and the Volunteer Dinner. The Department Heads have talked a great deal of doing a barbeque and serving and cooking for their employees and letting the appreciation come from them to the employees. He suggested having coffee, cake and a time for them to meet and greet. He feels those folks would like appreciation and a dinner isn't necessarily what anybody is thinking of. Some of the employees have told him that the formal setting they go to is a little uncomfortable and some choose not to go because of it being formal. He suggested those are three areas that free up almost $4,600 quickly. The Council can put some of that in Meals on Wheels and even reserve some for other things that come before Council. Councilwoman Rhodes feels Travelers Aid should come out also. She feels this is of no benefit to anyone in the community. There are many charities that support Travelers Aid. Councilwoman Lichter asked Councilwoman Rhodes what she thinks about Pop Warner. Councilwoman Rhodes feels they need to keep it. Councilwoman Lichter asked if these decisions need to be made now and finalized because this is the last vote on the budget. City Manager Hooper stated tonight they need to appropriate the $9,600. The Council can decide now and through the budget year how they want to allocate or spend those dollars. Councilwoman Lichter feels that will give them more time to get more figures such as with Meals on Wheels. She thought the Indian River Fishing Club did have some impact on bringing some business to the community. City Manager Hooper stated he has attended the last two or three. He feels those folks would be there regardless. He spoke about what has been funded in the past. Page -4- Council Special Meeting September 24, 2001 "-' ....., Councilwoman Lichter spoke about approving the $9,600. She commented on the suggestions made by City Manager Hooper with regard to the Employee and Volunteer dinners, leaving the scholarships in, SCORE in, increasing Meals on Wheels, leaving Pop Warner for the first year as is. Councilwoman Lichter asked if there is anyone here from Travelers Aid. Councilwoman Rhodes commented on what Travelers Aid is. Councilwoman Lichter spoke about this being expanded to include runaways. Mayor Schmidt asked if they have any information on how they disburse their money. City Manager Hooper agreed to get that information. Mayor Schmidt stated on the Employee and Volunteers Dinners, are they suggesting they eliminate the dollar amount and try something else or just cut it in half or something like that. Mayor Schmidt suggested they cut it in half. Councilwoman Rhodes suggested they make it $1,000 for each. City Manager Hooper spoke about soliciting some feet. Ten dollars a person, something to help offset that cost and department heads kicking in some. Councilwoman Rhodes feels they need to appreciate the department heads as well. Councilwoman Lichter feels a different type of set up could save at least $1,000 on both of them together. Councilwoman Rhodes suggested keeping those at $1,000 each and putting the rest in a charitable donation fund and then as things come up they can use that money. City Manager Hooper stated they can do that. If Council does what they just said that will get the amount to $8,048 which is $1,052 in the account that can be used for later requests. He asked if Council wants to do that. Councilwoman Rhodes liked that idea. Councilman Vincenzi stated he didn't have any strong objection to that but he would like to see everything planned out. Councilwoman Rhodes suggested having a policy drawn up for next year and that just be the way it is all the time. City Manager Hooper explained what they will do when they go through the budget work session next year, they will bring a policy and make sure Council agrees with that and that is what will get sent out to those entities that are requesting dollars with some scrutiny on how they are going to use the money and more definition to that. Councilwoman Rhodes feels they need to have a limit as well. Mayor Schmidt asked Steve Dennis to come to the podium. Steve Dennis, Southeast Volusia Chamber of Commerce, stated in the spirit of trying to help the Council reduce some of the shortfall, they have funding in the amount of $9,300. They would be willing to reduce that to $9,000 and let Council take 1/3 of what they are trying to make back up and put that towards some of these causes. They are well aware of recognizing volunteers and people who devote their time and he feels Council needs to do that. Councilwoman Rhodes felt that was wonderful. Councilwoman Lichter thanked Mr. Dennis. Councilwoman Rhodes suggested reducing Meals on Wheels to $300, buy into the Spelling Bee and produce $2,000 for them. Mayor Schmidt would like to see, if they decide to do the Spelling Bee, that they take it out of their pockets or raise it. Mayor Schmidt stated they would go to $1,000 a piece of the Employee and Volunteer dinners, gaining $300 from the Chamber, the Spelling Bee, if they decide to do that, will be amongst however they decide privately to do, take out the Travelers Aid and the Fishing Tournament. Page -5- Council Special Meeting September 24, 2001 '-' ...., councilwoman Rhodes suggested for the organizations they couldn't fund to offer them space in City buildings that they can put jars or something to get collections or donations. Councilman vincenzi stated all they have to cut is about $1,100 out of this. City Manager Hooper stated $1,050. Mayor Schmidt stated this gives them money to play with later on. City Manager Hooper stated that would leave Council about $1,500 to have in reserve if anything comes up through the year. Councilwoman Rhodes stated if they have anything left at the end of the year they will donate it to something. City Manager Hooper informed Council when they do the budget all they have to do is refer to what they called a consensus on the budget. Councilman Vincenzi asked for a printout on that this week. Ord. 2001-0-55 Legal Assistant Matusick read Ord. 2001-0-55 into the record. Mayor Schmidt opened the public hearing. Joe Joseph, SCORE, thanked Council for everything they have done for them. He asked if they have been getting their quarterly reports on SCORE's performance. Council informed them they have been. Mr. Joseph stated when they planned their budget three of them voted outstandingly to give themselves a seven percent increase but they have a mathematician and when he figured seven percent of zero it still came up zero so they don't have a salary. One thing they do need is a homebase where they can conduct their regular business because they have left the second floor of Regions Bank and the Observer is running the advertisement of it. Mayor Schmidt asked how often they use the space. Mr. Joseph stated they use it almost every day. Councilwoman Rhodes asked if they have a lot of equipment. Mr. Joseph stated they have desks, chairs, a copier, and a computer. Steve Dennis, Southeast Volusia Chamber of Commerce, thanked Council and informed them the Chamber looks forward to working with very closely with the Council and the City Manager. As they move forward in their planning they will incorporate the Council and staff on a regular basis to be sure they represent all of Southeast Volusia. Mayor Schmidt spoke about the all of the Chambers getting together and working with the County with regard to economic development. Mr. Dennis commented on the Alliance they formed. It is an agreement between nine of the Chambers in the County to pass economic development information back and forth to each other as well as to cooperate with the local governments and County. He briefly commented on the meetings they have had. It is not in competition with the County. They are trying to work to become a partnership so they can dove tail nine organizations at one time in with the County's efforts. They hope to have an amended agreement no later than October 1st that will have all nine Chambers signed on defining what they will do. Mayor Schmidt asked Mr. Dennis to keep the Council updated on how that is going every once in a while. Mr. Dennis agreed to do this. He hopes in the not to distance future to have another joint meeting between the four cities. He feels some good things have some out of that. Page -6- Council special Meeting September 24, 2001 .., ...", Dominic Capria, 606 Topside Circle, asked approximately how much will come into the City from new construction from year 2002? Mayor Schmidt asked if he is talking about revenues. Mr. Capria informed him yes. Mayor Schmidt stated for the General Fund Revenues there should be an increase in property value due to new construction of $16.9 million. Increase in property tax revenue due to increased property values $11.2 million. Increase in new building permits about 225 per year. This is for year 2001/2002. Mr. Capria asked if that figure is already in the budget. City Manager Hooper informed him yes. Mayor Schmidt stated it is what the budgets were based on. Mr. Capria asked about refuse collection. last year's contracts were $1.44 per home. of $23,460. will that decrease show on the He feels if they are paying $1.44, they are He stated he believes They have a decrease homeowner's bills? paying too much. City Manager Hooper stated he thought he was talking of recycling only. Mr. Capria stated he was. Councilwoman Rhodes asked if he wanted the $1 per household to go back to the homeowner. Mr. Capria stated he was asking if it would show a decrease to the homeowner not that he wants it to. Councilwoman Lichter stated no. City Manager Hooper commented on having a multi-year contract with a fixed rate. Mayor Schmidt stated so the recycling people would have to change their contract with the City. City Manager Hooper informed him yes. Councilwoman Lichter asked when that comes up again. Dept. of Environmental Services Director Terry Wadsworth stated next year, it was a two year contract. It will go up again next month. Mr. Capria asked if they knew how much. Mr. Wadsworth informed him he would have to figure it out. Mr. Capria stated the assessed value of homes in the budget was listed at $65,000 and to him that seems kind of low which relates to the 5.95 at $238. He guessed it would be more like $85,000 which would be $357,000 based on that figure with the $25,000 homestead. Councilwoman Rhodes asked City Manager Hooper and Finance Director Goins where the $65,000 figure come from. She disagreed with Mr. Capria and felt it was a correct number. City Manager Hooper commented on an estimated value minus the homestead exemption. Councilwoman Rhodes stated so then it would be $90,000 for an average household. The City will receive more revenue in the year 2001/2002 than it did in the year 2000/2001. She commented on there being a lot of capital expenditures providing new services for the City and more police officers on the way and they have to pay for it. Mr. Capria feels they did a great job on debating on the Meals on Wheels and he is hoping the Council will do the same thing with the budget. He believes the 5.95 can be reduced to the roll back rate and possibly lower for the simple fact they are talking about a 26% plus increase in revenues and expenditures. He feels that is a lot of money and relates to $5 million plus compared to last year. He feels that is a lot of dollars in one year. city Manager Hooper commented on part of the problem being the FIND pass through. There is $3 million FIND pays the City to develop the project but we pay the construction. That is in the budget because it needs to be here because it identifies the City is paying it. It makes it look like the city has revenue and expenditures it doesn't have. Councilwoman Lichter stated right now they are basing things on a particular income. She stated that isn't a closed thing is it that they can go in for the exemption of the additional $25,000. Page -7- Council Special Meeting September 24, 2001 ...... ~ city Manager Hooper stated they have to go in and apply and meet the qualifications. councilwoman Lichter stated so that can escalate as the years go on if their income goes down. That is not a tangible tax and they don't know what that can be. Mr. Capria stated you have to earn $20,000 or less to come under that criteria so you aren't going to get many people earning less than that in the senior age. Councilwoman Rhodes stated that is a good thing. Councilwoman Lichter stated it is a variable that is not constant. There are people that will come into that category. She feels this budget is almost too tight. She feels there are things missing in this City. She doesn't feel they have enough trucks to pick up after a storm. She feels they are doing it as tight as possible and perhaps some of that extra money, if there is such a thing, should be going to more services. city Manager Hooper stated if any citizen meet one on one he would be happy to take Finance Director Goins will do the same. difficult. wants to come in and whatever time and The budget is Carol Digmon, New Smyrna Beach Board of Realtors, stated she ne&lected to give the date for the Spelling Bee which is October 25t from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the New Smyrna Beach High School. Mayor Schmidt stated all of that is on the information sheet for them. Councilwoman Rhodes moved to approve Ord. 2001-0-55, second by Councilman Vincenzi. The motion CARRIED 5-0. Ord. 2001-0-58 City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Legal Assistant Matusick read Ord. 2001-0-58 into the record. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Schmidt opened and closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve Ord. 2001-0-58, second by Councilwoman Rhodes. The motion CARRIED 5-0. Ord. 2001-0-56 City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Legal Assistant Matusick read Ord. 2001-0-56 into the record. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Schmidt opened and closed the public hearing. Councilman Vincenzi moved to approve Ord. 2001-0-56, second by Councilman Brown. The motion CARRIED 5-0. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Schmidt called a ten-minute recess at 8:07 p.m. before the Regular Meeting Minutes submitted by: Lisa Bloomer Page -8- Council Special Meeting September 24, 2001