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03-27-2000 - Workshop ..... ....." CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER WORKSHOP MARCH 27, 2000 6:00 P.M. COMMUNITY CENTER MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Mayor Schmidt called the Workshop to order at 6:00 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 Police Chief Lawrence Schumaker Lieutenant William Britain Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Excused Present MEETING PURPOSE The purpose of the meeting is to discuss stormwater related problems and future agenda items. City Manager Hooper explained they would be having an up-to-date historical discussion on stormwater, storwmater utilities, all the money spent, what is done with it, some of the events that occurred during the storms and tropical depressions and flooding. Department of Environmental Services Director Terry Wadsworth made a Power Point presentation. He went over the definitions of stormwater, E.D.U., and site mitigation. He then went over the stormwater utility history. He further commented on why a stormwater utility was created as a separate entity. Mr. Wadsworth presented the background the City came up with to create what an E.D.U. (Equivalent Drainage Unit) is and the financial considerations. He then went over the revenue section of the Stormwater Budget and the benefits derived from the Stormwater utility. Deputy Director of Environmental Services Brenda Johnson went over the way the Stormwater utility actually functions as far as personnel and equipment and some of the things they do. There was a discussion regarding concerns from residents at Shangri La regarding the lake and gigantic culvert that have been put at the Recreation Complex that goes into their stream. Ms. Johnson explained that was one of the concerns they had in doing the Recreational Complex. The culvert was installed for future considerations. All of this is permitted with st. John's and they have very strict criteria. Ms. Johnson agreed to look at this. The City's main concerns are the canals, the retention ponds and the major conveyance systems. There was a brief discussion regarding how often the canals are cleaned. There was further discussion regarding two of the drainage basins draining into the Gabordy Canal which in turn drains into the Indian River and one drainage basin draining into the Turnbull Hammock. There are certain sections, such as Edgewater Landing and Pelican Cove East, that drain directly into the river and so do some homes that are directly on Riverside Drive. ...... ..,., Ms. Johnson spoke about procedures for new homes and businesses and inspections that are done with regarding to drainage. Ms. Johnson then went over the road improvement project and what that brought on to the Stormwater utility. There was a brief discussion regarding some culverts where there has been undercutting of the swale. Instead of water going through it, it has found a path around it and has eroded from underneath it. Councilwoman Lichter expressed concern regarding this being unsafe. Ms. Johnson then went on to explain some of storm events we have had during 1999 and some of the areas where they had problems. There was a brief discussion regarding other cities helping out if their city doesn't have as much damage as Edgewater. There was a discussion regarding the C.E.R.T. team helping out during emergencies. Ms. Johnson then went over ground water table elevations in Edgewater. There was a discussion regarding P.E.R.C. tests being done. Ms. Johnson spoke about what they identified during the storm system. It was actually a very good test for our system because with all the improvements that were done with the Stormwater Master Plan in 1990 and the road paving project, it kind of gave us an idea of where our faults were and how everything was going to work in a major event. Now that they have identified those areas, where do we go from here? She agreed to let Mr. Wadsworth take over from here. City Manager Hooper further talked about the storm events and the storm system that we have now. Councilwoman Lichter stated she knows the retention ponds are in Florida Shores but does the roadway design meet standards. City Manager Hooper stated in Florida Shores, it's the subdivision, its designed for 25-year storm. The subdivision and the roads inside there. That subdivision had to be retrofitted so much it really isn't a 25-year, 24-hour. It's as close as you can get dealing with old subdivisions. Mr. Wadsworth informed Council of what they are doing to improve the system right now, what they have found and the action they are taking. Mr. Wadsworth briefly spoke about the flooding problem at Carter's. Councilwoman Lichter asked if Volusia county Mosquito Control were invited to come tonight. Mr. Newell stated he was told they were supposed to be here tonight. City Manager Hooper stated he contacted them and they could not make tonight but Mary Ann Connor is going to meet us out there Thursday and go through and look at this canal. They have assured him they will come out and clean this mosquito canal as soon as we identify for them the proper one. Mr. Newell asked to speak. Mayor Schmidt asked him to keep it short. Page -2- Council Workshop March 27, 2000 '-' ....." Mr. Newell stated you say that they are going to come out and look at that but ya'll cleaned down this side but what about this section here. Ya'll don't want to do anything about this. So that is what you are saying? You are after the County. The County was supposed to have been here tonight but they aren't here tonight that is why he is here. He wants to know what they are going to do. He has a right here to say on this and he would like to ask the Mayor, he would like a full copy of tonight's session. He wants the whole session and he would like copies of tonight's meeting because he needs it. Mayor Schmidt informed him as soon as it is ready he can obtain a copy from the City Clerk. Mr. Newell stated he has waited six months now. He stated hurricane season is coming up in two months. He is asking the Council. You people represent the City and this is what he wants to know. Mr. Wadsworth spoke about a meeting they are going to have with Florida East Coast Railroad on Thursday. He spoke about problem areas and stated they were due to the railroad drainage and right-of-way. They aren't maintained like they once were. We have contacted them and they have agreed to send someone down to review those areas with us to see if we can get some relief. Mayor Schmidt asked if there is any way they can do an agreement with them to where we maintain it and they pay us. city Manager Hooper stated it sounds good and it is a good idea. He spoke of about the railroad being a tough agency to deal with. City Manager Hooper stated if any Councilmember would like to be there he can post the meeting, if more than one is planning on attending. Mr. Wadsworth informed Council they have tried to maintain facilities within the F.E.C. right-of-way before and unbeknownst to us they actually have train police and they threatened to confiscate our equipment and jail the operator at the time. They aren't an easy agency to deal with. Mr. Wadsworth briefly spoke about reimbursement the City is still waiting for from F.E.M.A. Mr. Wadsworth stated they expect next month to get approval, at the st. John's Governing Board meeting, for a grant of about $202,000 for doing some stormwater improvements at the large lake by the sewer plant on Mango Tree. Mr. Wadsworth spoke about updating the Stormwater Management Master Plan and the cost being approximately $62,000 with a reimbursement of up to $20,000 from st. John's. He hopes to have this to the Council around the second meeting in April. City Manager Hooper asked Mr. Wadsworth to speak about the hotel site. He asked Mr. Wadsworth to describe what is there. City Manager Hooper described at the last meeting that it goes through a County owned mosquito ditch into the City maintained ditch and where we stand with that. He asked Mr. Wadsworth to summarize that for them, which he did at this time. There was a brief discussion regarding what East Volusia Mosquito Control District is supposed to be doing. City Manager Hooper asked if they are funded in any special way or are they just part of the County's General Fund. Mr. Wadsworth stated he believes they are part of the county's general fund and they are just tax based. They have been stepped down considerably over the years and they really don't have a lot of equipment to do the work any more. Page -3- Council Workshop March 27, 2000 ....... ...., Councilwoman Lichter stated if legally they find they are still responsible and nothing happens, is there not a way legally to write them a letter requesting some type of action so they can be required to do what they are supposed to do. city Manager Hooper stated he thinks what they will find is they will honor and say they own the mosquito control canal from his property to our ditch. The question comes do they own anything that is on his private property. That is what we have to get them to answer. If they own or have easements across his private property, then it is up to them to have some level of effort to help maintain and control the maintenance of it. Councilwoman Rhodes asked why is it so hard to ask somebody what they own. City Manager Hooper explained some of the records are very old, early 1920's kind of assessment that was set up for mosquito and drainage control. They owned right-of-way. The County came in and took over parts of it. Who owns what gets vague after a period of time and then the County goes in and takes over the maintenance operation but not the spraying for the mosquito control. Honestly, they just rely on somebody to complain. If there is never a complaint, they don't do anything. In this case, he thinks they clearly will come out and clean that ditch. They will have to do some legal research to find out if they own or have any legal obligations for an easement that crosses the motel site. Councilwoman Lichter stated because the City took Carter's Motel site into the City it might end up the City's responsibility. City Manager Hooper stated or it is private. It may be that nobody owns, except the individual owner of the site, the drainage on site. Councilwoman Lichter asked if there is water that we have from one of our systems that is going in there and is the new building next door adding to the problem. City Manager Hooper stated that is our problem. He explained what leaves Carter's site drains through a County ditch and goes into a City ditch. Upstream from that is a medical office that has been permitted that drains onto either that easement, if an easement exists, or private property. There is an obligation of the County, if it is County easement. If it is City, then we got ourselves into the fact that we have allowed a building to go in that contributes water to that. We've either got to fix it or remove the water from it and find a different path. He spoke about title research, legal easements and who has legal access to that. They are trying to determine who has that responsibility. Councilwoman Lichter asked about on-site mitigation and if it kicks into this situation. Mr. Wadsworth explained Mr. Newell has a pass-through system. He has pipes that drain the water from his property into the canal. In order to get any mitigation credits on the bill, you have to be able to go ahead and provide retention. If they could help him out that way, he would certainly want to do it but that really doesn't apply to this case at all. There was a discussion regarding the fee for moving the water offsite. City Manager Hooper spoke about stormwater in general and how the system works. We need to spend a little bit of money to figure out where to put some better improvements in, are there things you can route in a different direction to get them quicker to the main canals. Councilwoman Rhodes stated we are going to spend roughly $40,000 to find out what we can do. City Manager Hooper stated yes, we are going to update a Master Plan that was done ten years ago and that will identify a list of projects that need to be done. Page -3- Council Workshop March 27, 2000 '-' ...., Councilwoman Rhodes asked how long this will take. City Manager Hooper explained the study itself is a three-month deal. He further commented on what will be involved with the study. There was a brief discussion regarding the strange weather we have been having. Councilwoman Lichter asked if the grants we are getting are matching grants. Mr. Wadsworth stated the grant we are getting, we have to put up $142,000 and they are putting up $202,000. It varies on the program and the type of improving you are doing. Councilwoman Rhodes spoke about homes flooding. She doesn't feel it is a significant number of houses being flooded for the amount of rain we had. It is no worse than any place in America. She expressed concern with roads flooding. There was a brief discussion regarding moving water from flooded areas. City Manager Hooper explained our improvements will be maintenance driven. Everything that can be done to make the system work better is being worked on. Councilwoman Lichter asked where the F.E.M.A. money will go when it comes in. Mr. Wadsworth stated it would come back to the General Fund for distribution and then it would be distributed to the appropriate departments. City Manager Hooper stated each department that had overtime hours had an amount. If that budget goes over, you will get reimbursed that amount. If there is extra, it stays in a pool of cash that will be used for stormwater improvements. Councilwoman Lichter asked if that includes pickup of debris. Mr. Wadsworth stated that is a separate issue and that has pretty much been dealt with. City Manager Hooper spoke about the money coming in from F.E.M.A. for the debris cleanup. Councilman Vincenzi asked how much the contractor cost? Mr. Wadsworth stated the revised estimate was about $118,000. City Manager Hooper asked if that is 100% reimbursed. Mr. Wadsworth stated we will have to pay a little bit of it. The State reimburses some and the Federal reimburses some. Ms. Johnson stated we ended up paying about 5%. City Manager Hooper informed Council the Land Development Code addresses a lot of these about how to avoid future as new development comes in. They have incorporated all of the Water Management District's better rules. They have looked at other cities and counties and got the best that is the most streamlined and useable and incorporated that. Mr. Newell asked what is going on and what may happen. This has been going on since October and he hasn't heard nothing from nobody. You'uns have the bill of what I spent. He needs to know something from ya'll. He feels the Council needs to sit back and look and think if that was me, what would I do. If you can't do that, then I don't know what you are doing up there. I'm going to be truthful and I'm honest. He isn't asking for much. Like Terry said, they pick up debris they clean out the ditches. They ain't done nothing for him. It has cost him $15,000 already. Now he has to do the streets. He wants to know what this Council is willing to do. The ditch has not been cleaned out. He was told at the last Council meeting, that the County is going to be here. He needs to know something. He would like Council to sit back and think about it and decide something. Page -5- Council Workshop March 27, 2000 '-'" "'-'" Councilwoman Rhodes stated we are trying to do something. Ken is trying to do something. They aren't able to tell us who owns the property. Mr. Newell stated he is telling me it is private owned and they can't do anything. If it is private owned, then as far as he is concerned, what are you paying for. Nobody can tell me this. City Manager Hooper suggested staff will get the ditch that leads from his property to the City canal cleaned. We will do that within the next week. We will make sure that our ditch going out to the Indian River is clean. He thinks it is clean now. If it is not, it will be. We will research the legal records on his property. If it is private property, the City can't spend any money on it. If there is an easement across there that is dedicated to the City or County, then we will look at it and bring back a recommendation to Council on how to solve it. City Manager Hooper spoke about the one upstream that he talked about on the medical building. He has either got to reroute that around there or find another mechanism or he has to help Mr. Newell with his problem. He will have that answer by the time they meet again. Mr. Newell stated at this time last year, and we haven't had the rain this year like last year, that ditch was bone dry and it should be bone dry now but it's not and it never has. City Manager Hooper stated the ground water table is still up. That is the problem. Mr. Newell stated why is it up? We haven't had the rain. City Manager Hooper stated because you had so much last year, that is why it is up now. Councilwoman Lichter listed the things staff will do to help with this problem. Mr. Newell stated he didn't have any problem until the storms. When the pipe plugged up, he had to reroute it. He needs to know something. Mr. Newell stated what he has spent on this and what he is paying for runoff and nobody wants to do nothing. You are doing everything in Florida Shores and every place else, but he is paying more than they are and he still isn't getting anything. Councilwoman Lichter asked what Mr. Newell put that sum of money out for. Mr. Newell stated because he could not clean it out and then he had to put in and reroute it down the street and go back in. Councilwoman Lichter asked if it was clogged. Mr. Newell stated he could not get to it because a mobile home is too close to it and if it caved off, then he has to pay for the mobile home. Councilwoman Lichter asked who did that? Mr. Newell stated he finally found someone that would after making calls from Ormond Beach down to here. They wanted the new jobs. They didn't want to get involved in this because they had other jobs they wanted to do. All he wants is an answer. Mayor Schmidt stated at this time, we have identified four or five things we are going to do. We can't obviously do the stretch on your property until Mr. Hooper, the County, and the Mosquito Control decide whose property that is. Mayor Schmidt asked City Manager Hooper if this would be brought back at the April 3rd meeting. city Manager Hooper stated the county will be out there and they will have answers as to what is going to occur. They will find out more about the property. They will have the information. It may not be done, but they will inform Council what they know and what will be done next. Page -6- Council Workshop March 27, 2000 '-'" ....". Mayor Schmidt informed Mr. Newell the April 3rd meeting will be held at Edgewater Landing. We want to get this resolved. Councilwoman Lichter stated you are an established business in this community, actually you are one of the only motels. Mayor Schmidt stated if it is something we need to do, we want to know so we can do it. If it is the County, obviously we want to pressure them. Mr. Newell feels he shouldn't have to pay this kind of money. He feels this isn't right. Paul Jenkins, willow Oak Drive, stated we are cleaning the ditches here and there hit and miss in Florida Shores. It seems like there is no uniform swale design. He spoke about the problem on Roberts Road with flooding. He spoke about the swale being filled in when the road was paved and they put a pipe with a drain at the corners. His ditch was just cleaned and there really wasn't anything done that improved it. It flowed alright the way it was before but he lost the two feet from the road where people were able to walk alongside the road. He suggested the City clean the ditch two or three inches lower than the pipe and put a row of st. Augustine sod back in the bottom of the ditch, it would grow out from both directions and fill the sides back in fairly quick. If you put it in the bottom and it is dug deeper than the pipe to start with, now the st. Augustine is already built up and it's not going to keep growing higher unless you get more dirt from somewhere else. City Manager Hooper stated part of what the Master Plan does is look at some of those things such as how we maintain swales and ditches and offers a maintenance suggestion. That will be something that is looked at also. City Manager Hooper went over some things he needs direction on. He asked Council if they wanted this placed on the agenda or not. He spoke about controlling tattoo parlors and body piercing. If Council is interested, they will pursue that and schedule a public hearing. It was the consensus of Council to go forward with that. City Clerk Wadsworth asked City Manager Hooper to explain about the interlocal agreement with the County for them to do inspections, which he did at this time. City Manager Hooper briefly went over the occupational license ordinance and raising the fees 5%. Fees were last raised in 1994. We make approximately $70,000 per year on occupational license fees. Staff is recommending they at least hold a public hearing on it and see what kind of feedback they get. Mayor Schmidt asked when these come before them, could they have some comparisons from other cities. City Manager Hooper agreed to do that. He informed Council they have in front of them generally what the draft of the ordinance will look like. Councilwoman Rhodes asked when this will be on the agenda. City Manager Hooper informed her it would be on the agenda at the second meeting in April. City Clerk Wadsworth stated this would not go into effect until occupational license renewals go out in August. Councilwoman Rhodes expressed concern with gas taxes and the price of fuel being up and also hitting businesses with some more added expense. She feels this might not be such a great idea. It was the consensus of Council to place this on the agenda. Page -7- Council Workshop March 27, 2000 ....... ...."" City Manager Hooper spoke about modifying the utility procedures ordinance. He spoke about having to pay a minimum bill even if there is no one at the residents. He spoke about modifying the procedure so that we do not accrue those minimum bills if someone closes out an account and the house is vacant for a period of time and wants to come in at a later date and sell the house and someone else takes it over. There would be no payment during that gap. Councilwoman Lichter asked if this causes havoc with Mr. Wadsworth's budget. City Manager Hooper commented on changes and the loss of money that needs to be identified. He wants to put those procedures together. He also spoke about renting to tenants. The water bill has to be in the owner's name. He wants to put together the changes in one ordinance and bring it back to Council for their consideration. This will not occur until May. It was the consensus of Council to move forward with this. Mayor Schmidt spoke about putting the bill in the tenants name. When the tenant skips, do you eat the bill if you can't find them. City Manager Hooper explained you put up a higher deposit. City Manager Hooper informed Council the Land Development Code is finally done. Copies are being handed out in the next couple of days to Planning and Zoning, Code Enforcement and the Council. Work sessions are being scheduled with the Planning and Zoning Board and Code Enforcement Board. It is in final format and they will be getting copies soon. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, Mayor Schmidt moved to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 7:42 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Lisa Bloomer Page -8- Council Workshop March 27, 2000 TIlE CITY OF EDG'1;WATER POST OFFICE BOX IOO-EDGEWATER, FLORIDA 32132-0100 Mayor Randy G. Allman District 1 Councilman James K. Gornto District 2 Councilman Myron F. Hammond District 3 Councilman Gary W. Roberts District 4 Councilwoman Judith R. Lichter City Manager Kenneth R. Hooper City Attorney Nikki Clayton City Clerk Susan J. Wadsworth JOINT WORKSHOP SESSION BETWEEN EDGEW A TER AND OAK HILL Edgewater Community Center Monday September 27, 1999 5:30 p.m. -AGENDA- 1. Call To Order, Roll (V' 2. Discu~"; ( }C L) l -1 f'\ ~ v Flag Salute t1 t planning area and annexation boundaries se J- \. \'v ,,\ ~ / /;0 \ . \:1;/ / ,/ VI (\ c \, \ \ , and availability of water and wastewater 3. 1 4. Disc 'Jute serving Southeast V olusia. 5. Items 1 6. Schedulil 7. Adjoummel In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, persons needing assistance to participate in any of these proceedings should contact City Clerk Susan Wadsworth, 904-424-2407, prior to the meeting. :ejm CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE 104 NORTH RIVERSIDE DRIVE (904)424-2404 FAX-(904)424-2421 c :\meetingnotices\workshopt09 .279