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02-11-2002 - Regular W" ...., CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER REGULAR MEETING FEBRUARY 11, 2002 7:00 P.M. COMMUNITY CENTER MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Mayor Schmidt called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Center. ROLL CALL Mayor Donald Schmidt Councilman James Brown Councilman Dennis Vincenzi Councilwoman Harriet Rhodes Councilwoman Judith Lichter City Manager Kenneth Hooper City Clerk Susan Wadsworth Legal Assistant Robin Matusick Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present INVOCATION, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE There was a silent invocation and pledge of allegiance to the Flag. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Reqular Meetinq of December 3, 2001 Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve the December 3, 2001 minutes, second by Councilman Brown. The motion CARRIED 5-0. B. Reqular Meetinq of December 17, 2001 Councilman Brown moved to approve the December 17, 2001 minutes, second by Councilwoman Rhodes. The motion CARRIED 5-0. C. Reqular Meetinq of January 7, 2002 Councilman Vincenzi moved to approve the January 7, 2002 minutes, second by Councilwoman Lichter. The motion CARRIED 5-0. PRESENTATIONS/PROCLAMATIONS/PLAQUES/CERTIFICATES/DONATIONS There were no presentations at this time. CITIZEN COMMENTS Mike Visconti, 316 pine Breeze Drive, asked is there is any possible way our Water Treatment Plant can have a water softener. city Manager Hooper stated it is already softened. Dominic Capria, 606 Topside Circle, asked about the borrowing of the $5,140,000 for the Water and Sewer Enterprise Fund with regard to Item 6L and asked if this is part of the FIND program. City Manager Hooper stated there may be a portion to put in water or sewer lines in the FIND but it is in the General Fund that they have borrowed money for FIND improvements, not the Water and Sewer Fund. Mr. capria asked if this will include reclaimed water. City Manager Hooper stated it does not have reclaimed water in the FIND project. Mr. Capria stated and there will not be? City Manager Hooper stated there will not be. Mr. capria stated in the budget for the year, did not the developers put in $3 million for some of these projects. City Manager Hooper stated $3 million was what we are paying for the Phase I construction. FIND is paying that and the city is buying the property and will be reimbursing FIND whenever we buy it. Those aren't the same dollars or same project at all. ...... ..." Mr. Capria asked about the borrowing of the $2,540,000 in the General Fund and if that has anything to do with the retention ponds. He then asked if the $5,140,000 does. city Manager Hooper stated not retention ponds. It has to do with reclaimed water system improvements. Mr. Capria then asked if any of the money will come out of the $6 per month stormwater charge. City Manager Hooper informed him no. Gail Wells, 2503 Woodland Drive, spoke about Code violations. She spoke about there being no response. You call on something and months and months go by. She called on different Code violations back in June. She came to the Council in July with pictures and in eight months nothing has been done. Ms. Wells commented on a prior problem she had with a neighbor that took three months before stuff was done. She asked what the city's policy is. Have the Codes, have them on paper but totally ignore them. She asked if they have any responsibility of enforcing these. She feels when you have a bunch of neighbors that don't mow their lawns, trash cans allover and nobody is picking them up and when you call they just think you are being petty. Are these Codes on the books because apparently somebody believes it is important to keep your front yard cleaned up? She asked if they are going to have these Codes on paper and then not enforce them. Is that the policy? Councilwoman Rhodes stated that is not the policy. Ms. Wells stated well that is what is happening and it is a joke. She doesn't believe that Mike in Code Enforcement cares about any of these. Ms. Wells spoke about somebody living in a 20 foot travel trailer on her side road for eight weeks before she even caught on. She got the Code and they were supposed to be there for two weeks and they were there for two months. She called Mike McGrath twice and absolutely nothing was done. She spoke to him personally on the 23rd and he came out and told the people that it was okay for them to leave their vehicle there and stay in it but they couldn't stay in it all the time. They left for a couple of days and left the vehicle there and that is when she got the Council involved. It is over and done with now and they are gone but this stuff shouldn't happen. She shouldn't have to get involved. If they would go around and check these violations and not put neighbor against neighbor because she doesn't like her neighbors mad at her. They were there twelve weeks and nobody did anything. She spoke to the gentleman who was living in the travel trailer and he said he was planning on staying until the end of April which would be six months and then he was going to take it back to Vermont. She nicely told the gentleman that she didn't want him living next to her house in the travel trailer. He ended up leaving and she doesn't want to be there and is mad that she is there. She pays her taxes and wants the City to do their jobs. city Manager Hooper spoke about minimum standards. She further commented on what happened with the gentleman living in the travel trailer and Code Enforcement Officer Mike McGrath. Ms. Wells showed the pictures she has taken of violations she previously reported. Councilwoman Rhodes stated if this has been going on for eight months then there is a problem. Ms. Wells stated the pictures were all of one house. Councilwoman Rhodes spoke about being parked on the City right- of-way and not be allowed to do that. Ms. Wells stated that is where her camper is too. Councilwoman Rhodes informed her she would have to move her camper too. They can't apply it to some people and not others. Ms. Wells stated she was told she could store her camper on that side street. city Manager Hooper stated you can't do that either. Page -2- Council Regular Meeting February 11, 2002 '-" ...." Councilwoman Rhodes stated the Codes changed in the last year and you aren't allowed to park on the right-of-way. City Manager Hooper spoke about some of the pictures being Code violations, such as the tall grass. The others are just people storing junk in their yard but there isn't a legislation that says you can't have a junky yard or a dirty yard. Ms. Wells stated at the meeting she attended they were talking about having people clean up their front yard where you have to have your grass cut under 24 inches and trash cans were supposed to be on the side of your house. City Manager Hooper stated he was with her but you can't legislate a pride in a neighborhood. You can make them do some things but you can't legislate and tell someone they have to have pride in keeping their house pretty or clean or painted. Ms. Wells asked if it is in the Code book that trash cans are supposed to be on the side of the house and items that you aren't supposed to have. City Manager Hooper stated it is probably not in the Code that would say that is a violation. Ms. Wells asked if it says in the Code book that you are supposed to keep your lawn picked up. city Manager Hooper stated it is supposed to be cleaned up and picked up. He made mention of some specific Code violations. Councilman Vincenzi stated he has dealt with Code Enforcement Officer McGrath and he is a real nice guy and sometimes he is too lenient. Ms. Wells stated he is nice. But that is it, he is too nice. Councilman Vincenzi stated it's not that he doesn't want to enforce the Codes but he is slow. He is slow to enforce them. Ms. Wells stated well he is only one person and she feels this is a problem. City Manager Hooper stated there is going to be a second Code Enforcement Officer in March. She feels the City needs people that are passionate with their jobs and actually want to deal with it. You wouldn't get away with this in Port Orange. City Manager Hooper spoke about Port Orange having Homeowners Associations and deed restrictions and that is what you don't have in the Shores area. Councilwoman Lichter stated so those issues that are Code Enforcement they can follow through on. She spoke about noticing people taking time. Councilwoman Lichter spoke about the meeting mentioned by Ms. Wells that she attended before the Code Enforcement Board. Any government can't legislate every aspect of your life and what is on the books they must follow through with. She further commented on her dealings with Code Enforcement Officer McGrath on. City Manager Hooper spoke about Code Enforcement Officer McGrath getting called into neighborhood squabbles. Councilman Vincenzi feels Code Enforcement Officer McGrath needs to be retrained as far as when you should be aggressive and when you should not be aggressive. Ms. Wells stated she just wants to protect her property value. Councilwoman Rhodes asked how Code Enforcement works. She understands different city entities report violations if they take notice to them. She asked if the Code Enforcement Officer just goes to calls or if he rides around looking. Ms. Wells stated he just goes to calls. He has told her he doesn't have time. City Manager Hooper stated when there is one person he goes to calls, he responds. At times when they have had two, they have put one on patrol to look for other areas. What they try to do is focus those main areas where the major problems occur. In March, we will have another Code Enforcement Officer. They use some of the Animal Control people at times to also respond to those calls. Page -3- Council Regular Meeting February 11, 2002 ....... ......, Councilwoman Rhodes stated if you are riding around for a week, you can hit every street and drive by every house in Edgewater. City Manager Hooper stated one guy can't do that. Councilwoman Rhodes stated she was wondering if he did it at all at any time. City Manager Hooper stated when there is two, there is room for some of that patrolling enforcement. Other than that, there's not. He further spoke about the time involved with one complaint. Councilwoman Rhodes asked if they needed to have three Code Enforcement Officers. When they came on Council, one of their prime objectives was to beef up Code Enforcement and have the Codes enforced. They didn't think there was so much a problem with the Codes as there was enforcement. Two and a half years later they are still sitting there with the same issues. She feels they should get what they need. city Manager Hooper stated if Council is willing, there is enough calls out there to put more Code Enforcement people. There is a lot of Code violations. Councilman Brown stated then they need to do it. Ms. Wells feels they are making it so much more difficult than it needs to be. She suggested making a flyer with the most common violations and putting them on peoples doors. city Manager Hooper stated that works for responsible people but if they were responsible they wouldn't have the trash cans and tires. Ms. Wells stated she doesn't think most people know the Codes. Councilman Vincenzi spoke about most of the people cooperating and the ones that don't being the problems. Ms. Wells feels if people knew there was a fine it may be different. Councilman vincenzi stated some people don't. Ms. Wells stated how do they know if they aren't even trying. Councilwoman Lichter stated she doesn't think they should hire a third or fourth Code Enforcement Officer without seeing how two works out. Councilwoman Lichter spoke about the procedure for the Code Enforcement process. Councilwoman Lichter spoke about a situation where there are two or three dead trees on an empty lot. The homeowner next door is extremely worried they are going to fall on her property. She is trying now to write a letter to the people who live out of town. Our Code Enforcement can't do anything about that dangerous situation because it is on an empty lot and that isn't within their domain. Councilwoman Lichter also suggested putting something in the City newsletter. Councilwoman Rhodes stated let's just do whatever it is that they need to do. CITY COUNCIL REPORTS Councilwoman Lichter spoke about the Indian River Task Force. The Chairman of that group sits on the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program and that has not come into Volusia County. Now Volusia County is being asked to submit an application and why we should be in it. What this opens up for us are grants. This side of Volusia County is applying to go in to this group. Page -4- Council Regular Meeting February 11, 2002 ~ ..""., Councilwoman Lichter spoke about CleanScene Day being Saturday, April 6th. They will be cleaning streets that are identified as needing extra help. They are also going to be emphasizing education this year. She has spoken to some of the leaders in Keep Florida Beautiful and Keep Daytona Beach Beautiful and they say education is the main thrust. They are going to look into getting a van that the County has to have on hand at CleanScene Day that you walk through and it has educational information. Councilwoman Lichter spoke about the playground at Whistle stop Park. Again, she has received complaints about comments to the effect of we cater to the Middle School and High School kids but it seems in terms of the younger ones that use the playground with their parents who are very much at Whistle stop Park. The equipment is not safe nor adequate. She wasn't sure if there was money in the budget for playground equipment at Whistle stop. She knows they did for Veterans Park but she thinks that should be in consideration for next year. Councilman Brown had nothing at this time. Councilman Vincenzi spoke about noise. He suggested possibly putting forth some kind of legislation that says no other businesses can participate in that type of activity in the future. The ones that are here now it is okay to do it but in the future eliminate the problem. City Manager Hooper commented on uses that are listed as acceptable uses in the B-3 zoning category. You can draw a line that says March 1st if you adopt a new change to the Land Development Code, that anything in B-3 afterwards would not be able to have outdoor entertainment or outdoor live entertainment. They only apply to vacant new properties that are coming through. There is a pretty simple method to do that which now applies to a conditional use. He feels it would be very simple to make a statement about B-3 and you wouldn't be able to buy vacant property and expect to put a restaurant in that had outdoor entertainment or live entertainment. Councilman Vincenzi feels that is something the public would accept fairly well and businesses that are here already would accept that well. Councilwoman Rhodes spoke about the new Marina at the Pre- stressed Concrete Plant and if they want to have an outdoor Tiki bar and maybe they've got a guitar player out there. She was thinking amplified outdoor music. City Manager Hooper commented on this property having a different type of zoning. He further spoke about this being covered under PUD agreements and developer agreements that come back to Council. Councilwoman Lichter stated she is not adverse to thinking about the idea. It was just presented tonight so she wants to think of the ramifications. She wondered about the establishments down to Ariel Road that are already there. She feels they are going to think about if they are going to be grandfathered in. City Manager Hooper stated if an existing bar annexed, that isn't a vacant property. They come with some vesting or grandfathered rights. Councilwoman Lichter asked about Park Avenue. She mentioned Earthquake Magoon's having outside barbeques. Councilman Vincenzi stated they do that every year and they never hear any complaints from their activities. Councilwoman Lichter stated she read the history of it and in the beginning there was some worry about the amount of parking space. Before she would say let's go she would need to get the ramifications. Councilman Vincenzi suggested having City Manager Hooper look into it. Page -5- Council Regular Meeting February 11, 2002 ---- ~ It was the consensus of Council for city Manager Hooper to look into this and what the ramifications might be. Councilman Vincenzi stated when everybody started talking about noise in the beginning, people were complaining about noise. They weren't complaining about the number of events but he thinks the number of events is what sparked all the problems. Part of the problem was that too many events were going on but the Codes right now do not allow for that many events. When they started talking about noise and revising all the ordinances, somehow special events and the number that are going to be allowed crept into it. The Codes the way they are now are pretty specific and they talk about what is allowed and what is not allowed and the number of events that are permissible which right now is one every six months. The problem he has in talking about special events and the number of special events is that nobody was complaining about the number of special events but now they are talking about changing the number of special events. Councilwoman Lichter feels this is Workshop discussion. Councilman vincenzi stated he wanted to throw this out so everybody could think about it and maybe at the next Workshop they can bounce that around. Pretty soon they are going to have to come up with a set of rules they are going to have to vote on. Councilman Vincenzi asked what the progress is on Votran re- evaluating Edgewater. City Manager Hooper informed him they have talked to Votran and they are doing an analysis of Southeast Volusia and their bus routes. They are going to get something back to the City in 60 to 90 days. Councilman Vincenzi feels the City should get more involved with litter as well as Code Enforcement. He thinks in this next budget cycle, they should address those issues a lot more seriously. Mayor Schmidt asked for permission from the Council to sign a letter they can send to Tallahassee objecting as time goes on to the different maps and bills they are trying to promote. He wants to let them know we want to keep Volusia in tact as much as possible. He spoke about a resolution New Smyrna did with regard to the redistricting issues going on. Councilwoman Lichter stated right now we are in three congressional districts which she kind of has her finger on. feels three is too many to be in but she wants Mayor Schmidt converse with them before he writes the letter. She thinks everyone of them might have some input or thoughts on it. She to Mayor Schmidt stated if they go by meetings, their next meeting is March 4th. The session ends the end of March. will it work if there is communication between the City Manager and the Council people if they have the ability to draft a letter? Right now there is thoughts of four districts, five districts and they keep changing. Councilwoman Lichter asked if that is legal. City Manager Hooper informed her yes. What they need to do is monitor what they are having. They can have maps of the layout. What is really being described is that changes so fast that somehow there needs to be an authorization for the Mayor to represent all of the Council to say they want to be in with the Volusia voting block as strong as they can. The Mayor is talking of a letter to them supporting that but as it changes some comments that says they want to stay with Port Orange and New Smyrna in the voting block as much as they can of Volusia. Councilwoman Lichter asked if he is talking about congressional or Senatorial and House Seat. City Manager Hooper stated they are talking about state House and Senate. Page -6- Council Regular Meeting February 11, 2002 '-' "WI' Mayor Schmidt feels it is plain and simple that they aren't out there looking for the best for us. They are out there looking to find their parties seats. Councilwoman Lichter stated the congressional is worse and she thought that was what they were talking about. We have three congressman that represent Volusia County but the House Seat and the Senate Seat we seem to be comfortable. She feels we have good diverse representation and would like to keep it like it is. Doris Hill, 112 Lincoln Road, stated what she is interested in is what is best for us as far as it effects the County because what effects us as a City effects us as a County. She asked what Mayor Schmidt is proposing. Mayor Schmidt commented on what they are trying to make sure doesn't happen. Ms. Hill stated she didn't understand Councilwoman Lichter's objection was to that. Councilwoman Lichter stated she thought he was talking about Congressional in the beginning and we are divided that way so we don't have as much power as we should. We are in three Congressional Districts. He is talking of the House Seat, the Senate Seat and the House and Senate picture for Volusia County. Ms. Hill stated she wouldn't like to see us thrown into Brevard. Councilwoman Rhodes stated they don't want that either. Councilwoman Lichter stated right now we are the 16th Senatorial and that runs from Ormond Beach to Oak Hill. We are in House Seat 28 which runs from parts of Port Orange to Oak Hill. Mayor Schmidt stated City Manager Hooper will let the Council know before the letter goes out. Councilman Brown expressed his support of this. Mayor Schmidt informed the Council he received a letter back from DOT regarding the left-hand turn lane at Roberts Road. This should not have been on the report he saw at the MPO. Mayor Schmidt stated DOT informed him he would have an answer in 60 days regarding the lighting and speed limit between Indian River and Roberts Road. Councilwoman Lichter stated the left-hand turn if you are going south and you want to make a left on Roberts Road, that has been taken out of the project, she thinks is a vital thing for them to write a letter to try and get it back. It is a very difficult situation. Mayor Schmidt stated it is there a few years down the road. Councilwoman Lichter stated you can't see when you make that left, when cars are coming south and they are in the left hand lane going into Roberts Road, they block your vision of trying to make that left to turn around and come back up north again. Mayor Schmidt spoke about the Watch Dog eyes of some of the City employees. At the corner of Fern Palm and Indian River there was a pothole that somebody he was with one day told him about because he didn't notice it. When you looked at the pothole you saw three layers of pavement on Indian River. That is how deep the pothole was. The garbage guys and street guys are around all the time. This pothole, all they had to do was sweep the dirt back in the hole. This hole had to be a foot deep. He would think there has to be some type of way that some of these guys, if they see some of this that they can just jot a letter and fax it to whoever's department it might be. city Manager Hooper agreed to address this, talk more of this and enforce it at the next staff meeting. Page -7- Council Regular Meeting February 11, 2002 '-" ...., Councilwoman Rhodes spoke about the letter from the City of Oak Hill informing the City of Edgewater that they are going to move their City limit sign to Clinton Cemetery Road. She asked if they did not already move them to Ariel Road. City Manager Hooper stated he will be sending a letter describing that the property where they are of putting their City limits has already been annexed. The County has already written them and asked the question of what that was about because of the property already being annexed. Councilman Vincenzi stated if they put one there we can remove it. City Manager Hooper informed him yes. PUBLIC HEARINGS, ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS A. 2nd Reading. Ord. No. 2001-0-84. Amendinq the Official Future Land Use Map from County Urban Low Intensity to City Low Density Residential for property located between US 1 and the Indian River on Swordfish Lane (continued from 12/3/01. Item 61) B. 2nd Readinq. Ord. No. 2001-0-85. Amendinq the Official Zoninq Map from County R-3 (Urban Sinqle FamilY Residential) to city R-2 (Sinqle FamilY Residential) for property located between US1 and the Indian River on Swordfish Lane (continued from 12/3/01. Item 6J) City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Legal Assistant Matusick read Ord. 2001-0-84 and 2001-0-85 into the record. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Schmidt opened and closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve Ord. 2001-0-84, second by Councilwoman Rhodes. The motion CARRIED 5-0. Councilman Vincenzi moved to approve Ord. 2001-0-85, second by Councilman Brown. The motion CARRIED 5-0. C. 2nd Readinq. Ord. No. 2001-0-86. Amendinq the Official Future Land Use Map from County Commercial and Urban Low Intensity to City Commercial for property located at 2576 South Ridqewood Avenue (continued from 12/3/01. Item 6K) D. 2nd Readinq. Ord. No. 2001-0-87. Amendinq the Official Zoninq Map from County B-3 (General Commercial) and MH-5 (Urban Mobile Home) to city B-3 (Hiqhway Commercial) for property located at 2576 South Ridqewood Avenue (continued from 12/3/01. Item 6L) city Manager Hooper made a staff presentation Legal Assistant Matusick read Ord. 2001-0-86 and Ord. 2001-0-87 into the record. Mayor Schmidt opened the public hearing. Doris Hill, 112 Lincoln Road, stated if they run into a problem with the noise ordinance, are the people behind, although they are in the County, protected. City Manager Hooper explained they are protected in the same that the ordinance would cover any inside the city. The County has an unincorporated noise ordinance that would cover those folks. Councilwoman Lichter stated she spoke to a couple people behind Rich's Place and they had no complaints. She asked if they are noticed if they live within a certain amount of feet even if they are in the County. City Manager Hooper informed her they are still notified. He commented on three letters he has seen come in talk about off-street parking. The owner of Rich's Place came and got a copy of the letter and he thought he went out and met with those people to find out what he could do to try and mitigate that. Page -8- Council Regular Meeting February 11, 2002 'w' ...., Mayor Schmidt closed the public hearing. Councilman Brown moved to approve Ord. 2001-0-86, second by Councilman Vincenzi. The motion CARRIED 5-0. Councilwoman Rhodes moved to approve Ord. 2001-0-87, second by Councilwoman Lichter. The motion CARRIED 5-0. nd d' d E. 2 Rea lnq. Or . No. Land Use Map from County Residential for property 12/3/01. Item 6M) 2001-0-88. Amendinq the Official Future Urban Low Intensity to City Low Density located at 2751 Alamanda (continued from F. 2nd Readinq. Ord. No. 2001-0-89. Amendinq the Official Zoninq Map from County R-3 (Urban Sinqle FamilY Residential) to city R-1 (Sinqle FamilY Residential) for property located at 2751 Alamanda (continued from 12/3/01. Item 6N) City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Councilwoman Lichter asked if Alamanda is in the County now or in the City. Chief Planner Darren Lear explained the west side is Florida Shores. This is on the east side. It is just one section with four parcels in it. City Manager Hooper stated it annexed last year and this is catching up with the land use and the zoning into it on the west side. Legal Assistant Matusick read Ord. 2001-0-88 and Ord. 2001-0-89 into the record. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Schmidt opened and closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve Ord. 2001-0-88, second by Councilwoman Rhodes. The motion CARRIED 5-0. Councilman Brown moved to approve Ord. 2001-0-89, second by Councilman Vincenzi. The motion CARRIED 5-0. G. 2nd Readinq. Ord. No. 2002-0-01. Willie G. Wood. owner. requestinq annexation of .34+ acres of property located at 3665 S. Ridqewood Avenue city Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Legal Assistant Matusick read Ord. 2002-0-01 into the record. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Schmidt opened and closed the public hearing. Councilman Vincenzi moved to approve Ord. 2002-0-01, second by Councilwoman Rhodes. The motion CARRIED 5-0. H. 2nd Readinq. Ord. No. 2002-0-02. city of Edqewater. owner. requestinq annexation of 38+ acres of property located north of the city Water Plant on SR 42 and westerly of FEC Railway City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Legal Assistant Matusick read Ord. 2002-0-02 into the record. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Schmidt opened and closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve Ord. 2002-0-02, second by Councilman Brown. The motion CARRIED 5-0. There was a ten-minute recess at this time. Page -9- Council Regular Meeting February 11, 2002 ,.., ...." I. 2nd Readinq. Ord. No. 2002-0-03. adoption of the new state Buildinq Code. pursuant to state statute 553.73 state of Florida (2001) and local amendments to Chapter 1 (Administration) and NFPA 70 (NEC) J. Res. No. 2002-R-04. authorizinq enterinq into Interlocal Aqreement for a Unified Code Committee K. Res. No. 2002-R-05. authorizinq enterinq into Interlocal Agreement for a Code Compliance Review Board city Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Dennis Fischer also made a staff presentation. Les Ogram be appointed as the representative on Compliance Review Board. Building Official He recommended the Code Mayor Schmidt stated it is his understanding that everyone is going to buy onto this and it becomes unified for the County. If there is one City that doesn't agree, then it isn't unified and it has to either the other cities in the County have to agree to that part or they have to convince them to keep it unified. Mr. Fischer stated there very well could be one of the municipalities or the County that may not vote for the 9 electrical amendments and there may be one or more. City Manager Hooper spoke about it being interpreted in different ways. Legal Assistant Matusick read Ord. 2002-0-03, Res. 2002-R-04 and Res. 2002-R-05 into the record. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Schmidt opened and closed the public hearing. Councilman Brown moved to approve Ord. 2002-0-03, second by Councilwoman Rhodes. The motion CARRIED 5-0. Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve Res. 2002-R-04, second by Councilman Brown. The motion CARRIED 5-0. Councilman Vincenzi moved to approve Res. 2002-R-05, second by Councilman Brown. The motion CARRIED 5-0. L. Res. No. 2002-R-06. authorization to borrow UP to $5.140.000 for the Water and Sewer Enterprise Fund and Res. No. 2002-R-07. authorization to borrow UP to $2.540.000 for the General Fund throuqh Bank of American. N.A. city Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. He further commented on fixed rates and variable rates and why it is better to start with a variable rate. Mayor Schmidt asked what the Euro dollar is. City Manager Hooper explained what they do is try to find something to measure the dollar against. Mayor Schmidt asked Finance Director Michele Goins if there is anything she is not overly comfortable with. Ms. Goins stated there is absolutely nothing that she is uncomfortable with. She feels this is the best way to go for the city. Mayor Schmidt asked how the rates are monitored. Ms. Goins commented on there being different ways to monitor it. The easiest way she knows how to do it is to call Bank of America and ask them what it is. Councilman Brown asked if they lock in on a fixed rate and it goes lower in a couple of years, will they have the capacity to go back to a lower rate. Page -10- Council Regular Meeting February 11, 2002 '-' ..""" City Manager Hooper stated once you convert from the variable to the fixed, you are it. You will not be able to change but you can buy it out. He further explained the City is not obligated to go to fixed. They can keep it variable for the whole ten years if they would like. City Manager Hooper commented on where the money being borrowed will be spent. Legal Assistant Matusick read Res. 2002-R-06 and Res. 2002-R-07 into the record. Mayor Schmidt opened the public hearing. Doris Hill, 112 Lincoln Road, asked City Manager Hooper if he has any real promises or expectations of getting the FIND land sold. City Manager Hooper stated with the FIND project, he has four to five major buyers looking to buy it all and he has ten people looking to buy between two and twenty acre lots. At this point the City doesn't own it so they haven't entertained much other than we are managing, administering the finishing of the construction for all the infrastructure. As soon as we own it and our closing with FIND is probably 45 days away. We have a number of folks who are very interested in building the first spec building and then two or three other lots real quick after that. Ms. Hill stated through the years she has learned the banks don't usually lose any money. What they are talking about, this is kind of way out. Nobody has any idea where this economy is going. She feels this is scary because those interest rates can go anywhere. City Manager Hooper explained that is the reason it is very quick to go from variable rate to the fixed rate at a 24- hour or 48-hour notice to be able to do that. Ms. Hill stated what they are trying to do is make money from borrowing money and that is a hard thing to do. City Manager Hooper explained that isn't what they are doing. This money is for capital projects. The FIND deal is a separate one of paying for it out of the proceeds of FIND. We are going to be buying FIND, the 144 acres we have to sell, over a ten year period with the first six years interest free. It has nothing to do with this deal. This deal will help us with that but that is independent. Ms. Hill asked what the fixed rate is right now. City Manager Hooper stated it would be 4.4 or 4.5 which is twice what our variable rate would be. Councilwoman Lichter asked about municipal bonds and if that is another way to finance big projects. City Manager Hooper stated yes, that is another way. This is a ten-year debt. Municipal bonds take you into a thirty year debt which for this amount of money they don't want to do. He further commented on why they don't want to do this. Ms. Hill stated when you sell these lots to industrialists who want to open up some kind of an industry or business, is the City going to be committed as they have in the past to give them breaks in their start up fees and impact fees. City Manager Hooper stated that is their call but his advice is that they are not. They haven't given anybody breaks on any of that stuff in a long time City Manager Hooper informed the Council on the 26th Work Session they will talk about how they are going to work with FIND. Mayor Schmidt closed the public hearing. Page -11- Council Regular Meeting February 11, 2002 ....- ..., Councilman Brown moved to approve Res. 2002-R-06, second by Councilman Vincenzi. The motion CARRIED 5-0. Councilwoman Rhodes moved to approve Res. 2002-R-07, second by Councilman Vincenzi. The motion CARRIED 5-0. city Manager Hooper stated this authorizes the Mayor and himself to proceed to the documents to closing. CONSENT AGENDA A. Law Enforcement Trust Funds - staff requestinq approval to use $1.638.20 of 'Funds' to purchase two (2) Advanced Taser systems B. Library Board Appointment - Councilwoman Lichter to consider reappointment of Mary Rice to the Board Councilwoman Rhodes asked Police Chief Ignasiak if he anticipates providing all officers with the Advanced Taser Systems. Chief Ignasiak stated in the future yes. He is just going to issue the Tasers now to Sergeants. He further commented on a policy they have in place. There was further discussion regarding the Taser systems and grant funding sources that may be available. Councilman Brown asked if anybody has ever died from one of these. Chief Ignasiak stated there is not one single sustained death as a result of the use of the taser anywhere in this country. Councilman Vincenzi asked about the training the officers go through to use the taser. Chief Ignasiak explained there is an eight hour block of training for each officer. The New Smyrna Beach Police Department and the Volusia County Sheriff's office have agreed to provide us taser instructor training free of cost for our officers. Mayor Schmidt spoke about the Leadership Program through the Chamber and going to the prison. He volunteered twice for the hand taser and it is an experience to go through. The second time he knew what to expect. Councilwoman Rhodes moved to approve the Consent Agenda, second by Councilman Brown. The motion CARRIED 5-0. OTHER BUSINESS A. Southeast Volusia Humane Society Aqreement - staff recommendinq to approve the Aqreement and authorize the Mayor to execute the Aqreement City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation regarding the changes to the Humane society Agreement. Councilman Brown and Councilwoman Lichter have inquired about placing this on the agenda when they meet with Port Orange, New Smyrna and Oak Hill regarding if there is another option for Edgewater. He has spoken to Halifax and they said they have too many pets. He has also spoken with Seminole County who said they would do it but it is an hour drive to get them there. That is an answer but it is fairly expensive. The County has sent a letter saying they are very interested in talking but that is the extent of it. He thinks this is in a condition they can live with. It has the thirty day notice if there is another option out there. Councilman Brown asked if they could invite the County to have a representative at the meeting with the three cities. City Manager Hooper stated he is sure they could. Page -12- Council Regular Meeting February 11, 2002 --- ,..." Councilwoman Lichter stated our Animal Control people are getting along with the personnel there in a fine manner. She got a long with the Humane society Board in a fine manner. That is not the issue. The real issue here is your taxpayers money and the second issue is the animals. She further spoke about their bylaws and problems at the Humane Society. She then went over statistics with regard to the amount of animals that are euthanized, how many are returned to their owners, and how many have been adopted. She then spoke about aggressive ways to get animals adopted. She has nothing against Humane Societies. They have no alternative at this point and they have a contract in front of them that can be broken in thirty days. She is going to vote yes but she thinks it behooves them to seriously contact in the proper manner the two other cities and see if there isn't an alternative where the cities themselves can own a shelter. Councilwoman Rhodes feels if they cared if there was another shelter or not, they would live up to the contract. We are paying them and they aren't living up to their part of the bargain. Because we have no other options, we are forced to do this and she doesn't like being forced to do this. She doesn't see why the cities can't get together and have a shelter for animals. Councilwoman Lichter spoke about there being grants that are available. Councilwoman Lichter spoke about when city Manager Hooper was the Manager for Seminole County, they had a Humane Society and a County facility. She went to visit both. She sees nothing wrong with putting the feelers out there and see what happens. Councilwoman Rhodes feels they need an alternative if for nothing else then to force them into compliance with the contract. without the alternative, they don't have to live up to anything and because we need their services, they are holding us hostage. Councilwoman Lichter feels it is the way the Humane society operated for a good many years and maybe in the past it was alright but now you are living in the 21st Century with rules and regulations and things are stricter and the Humane Society did kind of change with the times. Councilman Brown feels that 4,000 animals being brought in and 3,000 being euthanized is unacceptable. Councilwoman Rhodes feels there are animal lovers out there that would be perfectly happy if they were financed by the City to provide homes for these animals. Councilman Vincenzi remembered talking about the same thing last year and the only way to do it is to get an alternative and an alternative that is City sponsored is too expensive unless you can get financing somewhere else. Councilwoman Lichter stated they don't know what it would cost for three cities to go in together but she knows that some of the friends she has in that group would do research. She recognized Donna Wagner who is the Chairman of our Animal Control Board and is also on the Humane Society with her. Councilman Brown asked what it would cost approximately to find out what it would cost for them to open their own facility. He asked to bring this up at the next meeting with the three cities to see if all of them would finance a study on this. City Manager Hooper stated if you are looking at a building it would be in the neighborhood of $300,000 to $400,000 building and then an annual amount. New Smyrna owns the property where this facility is. If all the cities want to get serious about it, that is where they start. They start taking over that facility and running it as a public facility instead of running it the way it is done. Page -13- Council Regular Meeting February 11, 2002 ~ ...." Donna Wagner, 2922 Unity Tree Drive, stated the Humane Society has not had a meeting in the past three months but she knew nothing about the contract the city has in front of them. There are some people that have already looked into trying to shift out from the Humane Society. It's not that the kids and the people out there don't care about what they are doing. It is very difficult. She works for veterinarians and to have to euthanize three thousand animals a year, she can't even imagine it. She does a couple hundred a year and they are people's pets. This has got to be a horrific strain on them but there has to be another way. Back when the Humane Society was originally constructed, it was for New Smyrna and Edgewater only. They are now taking Orange city, Deltona, Deland, Oak Hill and have taken more County animals than either Edgewater or New Smyrna is sending out there. It has become a County Humane society. Mayor Schmidt stated he would think then the County would be interested in talking too. city Manager Hooper stated the County is interested in a centralized shelter for all the cities. We wrote them a letter that said we were interested and he was told we were the only City that voiced any interest. Councilwoman Lichter feels if they would send a representative like they are entitled to, at least from New Smyrna and Port Orange to the Humane Society meetings, maybe then they would have someone that has contact and would get back to them with some of the things that are going on that she is telling the Council. There are five or six people in Edgewater that serve on the Humane society. Councilwoman Rhodes stated there is one guy that is the head of the Humane Society. Ms. Wagner stated Mr. Schlemmer. Councilwoman Rhodes asked how he got to be the head of the Humane Society. Ms. Wagner stated ten or fifteen years ago he was voted on to be President. He has continued to hold that position to this day by a vote. Councilwoman Lichter stated they have tried to change that in the by-laws to say that each officer could only serve ex-number of years. Councilwoman Rhodes asked if he is paid. Ms. Wagner informed her no. She spoke about not having a lot of time to spend out there due to working. Councilwoman Rhodes stated but somebody pays the bills. Ms. Wagner stated that is Mary Lee Cook who is an accountant. That is not Mr. Schlemmer. Councilwoman Lichter stated and they have no budget which was required from them also in the contract. Councilwoman Rhodes stated so they are a non-profit organization. Ms. Wagner stated they are a non-profit organization that answer to no one except themselves or the Council if they wanted to request an audit. There was a brief discussion regarding the paid employees at the shelter. City Manager Hooper spoke about being the only City that has a formal contract. New Smyrna has a contract that is old and fuzzy because they lease them the property. He spoke about it being hard to track if an animal had been there three days, four days or five days for the holding period so that didn't work. Page -14- Council Regular Meeting February 11, 2002 'W' 'Itttt# Councilwoman Lichter stated they don't know how much they have given in a given year. City Manager Hooper stated we do know that. We know what we take out. It gets further complicated that we pay what our Animal Control Officers deliver. He spoke about somebody taking their pet there and the City having to pay for it and not having any control over it. He feels the Humane Society should be collecting money from the bad pet owner that just dumps it. Councilwoman Rhodes asked if we as a City could refuse to pay for those animals. City Manager Hooper stated you could and then you are going to wind up with animals running loose. Ms. Wagner spoke about a problem the Humane society was having with Oak Hill because they weren't paying their bills. They discontinued taking Oak Hill's animals. They have a night drop cage and those cages were loaded for two weeks because people were coming from Oak Hill and putting the dogs in there at night. city Manager Hooper spoke about how small the Humane society is. They don't have enough room to handle the animals that are coming in so when you have 4,000 animals show up to make room for the next batch you have to put a lot of them down and that is what is occurring. He mentioned 90% of cats and kittens being put down. Dogs are fairly adoptable. Councilwoman Lichter stated when you go to Halifax, people five deep are standing in line. Councilwoman Rhodes stated she doesn't know why they even have to have a contract with them because they aren't following it anyway. Councilwoman Lichter asked if there is any way to put penalties in there if they don't live up to their part of the bargain. Councilwoman Rhodes asked how they are going to know because they don't provide them with any paperwork. City Manager Hooper stated the City has no leverage. City Manager Hooper stated he wouldn't mind looking at a holding pen and taking them to Seminole. He thinks that is an option that is not ruled out. Councilwoman Lichter stated another option that she feels isn't ruled out is the fairgrounds, which the County has suggested. She feels maybe after they talk to the other two cities and the County they will see the need for something like the fairgrqunds. She feels people wouldn't bring their animals that far but holding them here in Edgewater might be an answer to a County facility that wasn't located locally. City Manager Hooper explained you would be holding an animal for that day to move it out. You wouldn't be holding over night or for someone to pick up. Mayor Schmidt asked to make sure it gets to Steve Dennis of the Chamber and gets on some kind of agenda. City Manager Hooper stated it is already there. Councilman Vincenzi moved to approve the contract with the Southeast Volusia Humane Society, second by Councilman Brown. The motion CARRIED 4-1. Councilwoman Rhodes voted NO. OFFICER REPORTS City Clerk Wadsworth had nothing at this time. Legal Assistant Matusick had nothing at this time. Page -15- Council Regular Meeting February 11, 2002 '-' ...." City Manager Hooper reminded the Council they have two work sessions on February 26th at 6 p.m. where they will talk about the city Hall building and the park across the street and the Economic Development Board wanting to speak about Economic Development in general but he wants to focus them on FIND and talking about how they are going to sell that. CITIZEN COMMENTS/CORRESPONDENCE George Ann Keller, 3039 Unity Tree Drive, spoke about the children's equipment at Whistle stop Park that is in bad need of replacement. This has been going on for over four years. She has mentioned it various times to Mr. Corder and he made some replacements but it is so bad. She would like the Council to look at it and see what they think. She feels it is urgent and not something that should wait for another year. She was told last year by Mr. Corder that this year there would be money in the budget and they would take care of it. She feels this needs to be looked at immediately. Mayor Schmidt asked if there was anything in the budget for this year. city Manager Hooper stated in Mr. Corder's defense, he put a hold on any capital until they get further into the budget to see what is going on. He has told him he has looked at it. He will talk to him tomorrow and make sure. Mayor Schmidt requested Mr. Corder look at it and if it is in bad condition, to take it out. City Manager Hooper stated they will either replace it or remove it. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, Councilwoman Rhodes moved to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 9:45 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Lisa Bloomer Page -16- Council Regular Meeting February 11, 2002