02-07-2011 - Regular
CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER
REGULAR MEETING
FEBRUARY 7, 2011
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
Councilman Justin Kennedy Present
Councilwoman Gigi Bennington Present
Councilman Michael Ignasiak Present
Councilman Ted Cooper Present
City Manager Tracey Barlow Present
City Clerk Bonnie Wenzel Present
City Attorney Carolyn Ansay Present
INVOCATION, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
There was a silent invocation and pledge of allegiance to the Flag.
2.APPROVAL OF MINUTES
There were no Minutes to be approved at this time.
3.PRESENTATIONS/PROCLAMATIONS/PLAQUES/CERTIFICATES/DONATIONS
There were no Presentations at this time.
Mayor Thomas recognized City Clerk Wenzel for obtaining her Certified
Municipal Clerk certification.
4.CITIZEN COMMENTS
The following citizens spoke:
Mary Pat Kennedy
, 6303 Palms Bay Circle, Port Orange, longtime
educator, former Principal of Indian River Elementary and former area
Superintendent for Volusia County Schools, applauded Council for their
support, encouragement and enhancement of education in Southeast
Volusia and spoke in support of Resolution 2011-R-03 with regard to
the School Scholarship Program.
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February 7, 2011
Joe Rawlings,
41 Timucuan, Ormond Beach, Principal, New Smyrna Beach
Middle School, made mention of the ongoing challenges in their
educational system and spoke in support of Resolution 2011-R-03 with
regard to the School Scholarship Program.
Samantha Bishop
, Executive Vice President, Southeast Volusia Chamber
of Commerce, spoke in support of Resolution 2011-R-03 with regard to
the School Scholarship Program. She strongly urged the Council to
vote yes. She encouraged the businesses and the residents to check
the box on the utility bill to donate $1.00. She pointed out
Edgewater would be the first to have a scholarship program.
5.APPROVAL OR CHANGES/MODIFICATIONS TO THE AGENDA
There were no Changes/Modifications to be made to the agenda.
6.CITY COUNCIL REPORTS
Councilwoman Bennington had nothing at this time.
Councilman Ignasiak had nothing at this time.
Councilman Cooper reported on attending the State of the County
address last week by presenting the highlights and progress.
Mayor Thomas had nothing at this time.
Councilman Kennedy disclosed he was continuing to speak with Finance
Director John McKinney regarding landlord/tenant issues with regard to
water. He also commented on being busy working on the scholarship
resolution.
7.CONSENT AGENDA
There were no items on the Consent Agenda to be discussed.
8.PUBLIC HEARINGS, ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS
st
A.1 Reading, Ordinance No. 2011-O-01 – Amending the City’s
Comprehensive Plan to update the Capital Improvements Element
(CIE) and the accompanying Capital Improvements Program (CIP)
City Attorney Ansay read Ordinance 2011-O-01 into the record.
City Manager Barlow made a staff presentation.
Mayor Thomas opened the public hearing.
The following citizens spoke:
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February 7, 2011
Carol Ann Stoughton
, 2740 Evergreen Drive, asked if Restoration was in
this plan. Development Services Director Darren Lear informed her it
was identified as developer funded.
Dominic Capria
, 606 Topside Circle, stated there was approximately 5
programs and asked if they could have a list of what the programs
were. City Manager Barlow agreed to give him the list of all of the
capital items.
Mayor Thomas closed the public hearing and entertained a motion.
Councilman Cooper moved to approve Ordinance 2011-O-01, second by
Councilman Ignasiak
.
The MOTION CARRIED 5-0
.
9.BOARD APPOINTMENTS
A.Planning & Zoning Board – Councilwoman Bennington’s
This
appointment due to the resignation of Justin Kennedy. (
item was continued from the January 7, 2011 Council meeting
)
Councilwoman Bennington stated for the record it wasn’t that she
didn’t have confidence in the Planning & Zoning Board and trust their
judgments but they had an applicant that had years of experience and
has participated in this City for ages.
Councilwoman Bennington moved to appoint Agnes Witter to the Planning
& Zoning Board, second by Councilman Cooper
.
The MOTION CARRIED 5-0
.
10.OTHER BUSINESS
A.Cancellation of the Performance Contract with Johnson
Controls, Inc.
City Manager Barlow made a staff presentation.
There was a discussion regarding issues with the performance contract
with Johnson Controls as well as meter issues that are being dealt
with through Census.
The following citizen spoke:
Carol Ann Stoughton
, 2740 Evergreen Drive, spoke of paying $1 million
for the meters five years ago under Kenneth Hooper’s administration.
She spoke of getting rid of all of the meter readers and felt when
they first went bad is when the Council should have gotten rid of
them. She felt the people who entered into the agreement should be
held responsible along with the manufacturer. She questioned if the
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February 7, 2011
City’s debt was still $40 million. She felt they should be careful
with what they are spending.
Mayor Thomas entertained a motion.
Councilwoman Bennington moved to cancel the performance contract with
Johnson Controls, second by Councilman Ignasiak
.
The MOTION CARRIED 5-0
.
B.“Draft” Resolution No. 2011-R-03 – Establishment of a
scholarship program to encourage higher education for
graduating high school students as well as provide additional
funds to local elementary schools
City Manager Barlow made a staff presentation and turned the meeting
over to Councilman Kennedy who made a presentation regarding
establishing a scholarship program.
Councilwoman Bennington liked the idea.
Councilman Kennedy and City Manager Barlow answered questions
presented by Councilman Cooper.
Councilman Cooper felt this was a great idea.
There was a discussion regarding an earmark for marketing being 1% to
2% or being capped at a certain dollar amount with a recommendation
being made by the Committee.
Councilman Kennedy spoke about tying in the scholarship recipient to
some sort of civic project to encourage students to get involved.
Councilman Ignasiak spoke in support of this program.
There was a brief discussion regarding other cities following
Edgewater and creating scholarship programs.
The following citizens spoke:
Joe Rawlings
, Principal, New Smyrna Beach Middle School, commented on
their hands being tied in many ways in terms of what they can do to
help students and families with regard to State funding being limited
to certain areas. He spoke of there being great opportunities for the
schools to use donations for things the State money doesn’t pay for.
Chris Baird
, 2933 Orange Tree Drive, felt the scholarship project was
a wonderful idea that would bring business to the City. She felt this
would help bring in businesses.
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February 7, 2011
John Zino
, 718 Navigators Way, was wondering about the youngsters who
will not attend college. He asked if there was any consideration for
post high-school training programs that could be endorsed by the City
so they can address 10% of the population. Councilman Kennedy
explained any type of education was on the table as far as he was
concerned.
Stan Schmidt
, 5574 Trailside Drive, Port Orange, serves as
Representative on Volusia County School Board, felt this was a
commendable idea. He felt this should lead the way among all the
cities. He commented on a program at the New Smyrna Beach Middle
School called Good News Referrals.
It was the consensus of Council to have the City Manager get further
input and bring back a final resolution.
11.OFFICER REPORTS
A.City Clerk
City Clerk Wenzel informed Council the 2010 Census numbers would be
sent to them within the next few weeks at which time they would have
to start looking at the redistricting process. Per the Charter they
have to adjust the district boundaries within six months of
publication of the Census numbers. They would like to form a citizen
committee. She requested each Councilmember nominate someone by the
next meeting.
City Manager Barlow commented on how the Charter Review Committee was
established. He suggested they select a citizen within their district
that they want to represent on the Redistricting Committee.
City Manager Barlow answered questions presented by Councilman Cooper
and Councilman Kennedy.
City Clerk Wenzel informed Council she had a meeting at the end of
next month with Ann McFall. The topic of discussion among the Clerks
was going to be the redistricting. She commented on how they wanted
to go about doing the redistricting.
City Clerk Wenzel wasn’t sure if Council wanted to continue with one
meeting a month.
There was a brief discussion on when the meetings were being held.
City Attorney Ansay questioned what they were going to do for March
due to possibly having to schedule another closed session and it
working well before the regular meetings.
It was the consensus of Council to continue to have one meeting per
month. City Manager Barlow suggested they hold the March meeting on
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February 7, 2011
th
March 7 and then they would decide and have a more definitive
schedule for the rest of the year.
B.City Attorney
City Attorney Ansay had nothing further.
C.City Manager
City Manager Barlow went over some draft ordinances of amendments to
the Land Development Code which would come back before them in March
or April, after going through the Planning & Zoning Board.
12.CITIZEN COMMENTS
The following citizens spoke:
Frank Maniscalco
, 2709 Silver Palm Drive, briefly commented on the
recent string of burglaries. He commented on there being a lot of
abandoned houses in the area and questioned why nothing was being done
with these properties.
There was a discussion regarding these properties still showing in the
owners names for a period of time after they have been abandoned.
Until the property changes hands the listed property owners are
responsible.
City Manager Barlow agreed to go by and determine if there are any
code violations and if not then get that in the process. They have
some pretty strict codes to address this. He agreed to send Code
Enforcement by in the morning to make sure the house was secured
and/or any of the code violations are taken care of.
City Manager Barlow encouraged the residents to report these to Code
Enforcement or file a complaint anonymously online.
Yvonne Hampton
, 2910 Sabal Palm Drive, spoke of being robbed in
October where $40,000 worth of merchandise was stolen from her home.
Nobody has contacted her to come in and identify her items. She spoke
of a man who did yard work for her that lives across the street from
her that has a long rap sheet. She has watched people come and go and
has called the police numerous times. He drives without a license.
She understood he was not the person involved but she felt he was
involved in something. She spoke of attending a field trip and two
other parents that were on the field trip were also robbed. She asked
what they were doing to educate the public on how to keep their house
safe. She was concerned they weren’t making the citizens of Edgewater
fully aware of the burglaries out there.
Captain Dave Arcieri explained they were still actively investigating.
The gentleman that was arrested had being charged with 66 felonies to
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February 7, 2011
date. He spoke of having so much property and not being able to get
to everybody yet.
Ms. Hampton stated they got three guns from her house and those were
taken. She was concerned that wasn’t the only place that guns have
been stolen from. She doesn’t feel the citizens are safe. She has
secured her house the best way she knows how. She felt the citizens
needed to be protected by being informed.
Councilman Ignasiak asked if the gentleman that had been arrested had
been taken around to show the places he burglarized and if Ms.
Hampton’s home was one he pointed out. Captain Arcieri informed him
he had been and that he would find out if Ms. Hampton’s house was one
of them.
Councilwoman Bennington commented on the Police being vigilant with
the burglaries and the CAPS people also being out on the roads looking
for things that are unusual.
Councilman Kennedy commented on the abandoned house problem being a
complex problem. He felt it was a community problem and was going to
take community involvement. He suggested the homeowners in Florida
Shores try to assemble a community organization that can educate
themselves on the process of foreclosure, and who actually owns the
property, who is responsible and what could be done about the
condition. He spoke of getting more people in the community involved.
Councilwoman Bennington commented on having a Neighborhood Watch
Program through the Police Department.
Mayor Thomas commented on Code Enforcement being complaint driven.
City Manager Barlow again commented on complaints being able to be
made online. He spoke of it being hard to determine who is
responsible due to the property changing hands too often.
City Attorney Ansay commented on an opinion that came down within the
last few days from an Appellate Court based out of the City of Palm
Bay, who was struggling with the same issue. They passed an ordinance
to try to find a way to get around the dead ends that the Statute
presents in Code Enforcement by making their liens priority. The
Appellate Court said they didn’t have priority. She spoke of Code
Enforcement being driven by State Statutes. The Florida Legislature
is the only one that could break those shackles. The FLOC is actively
promoting changes to the Code Enforcement Statute.
Councilman Cooper asked if they could offer how to set up a “block”
watch. Councilwoman Bennington informed him they already offer that
through the Police Department and suggested they put an article in the
newsletter.
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Council Regular Meeting
February 7, 2011
City Manager Barlow commented on reorganizing the Code Enforcement
Department which includes training the CAPS volunteers on particular
Code issues and soliciting their help with clerical work to allow the
Code Officers to be out on the street more often.
Councilman Kennedy commented on Code Enforcement letting somebody know
by knocking on their door about any issues and this not being able to
be done with abandoned properties which prolongs the Code Enforcement
process.
John Kennedy, 6303 Palms Bay Circle, Port Orange, Commercial Realtor,
stated the Florida Legislature reacted last year to the banks by
allowing homeowners associations to actually foreclose on abandoned
properties within the homeowners association. It takes 500 days in
Florida to settle a foreclosure. The homeowners association where he
lives has an attorney and has initiated proceedings to take a house
located in their homeowners association.
Mayor Thomas stated they are working on this problem and have to
follow the laws.
13. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to discuss, Councilman Cooper moved to
adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 7:31 p.m.
Minutes submitted by:
Lisa Bloomer, CMC
Attest: APPROVED:
City of Ed•.ewat -, F1► ida
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Bonri t�41ip1, City Clerk Michael L. Thomas, Mayor
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Council Regular Meeting
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