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01-22-2001 - Workshop 'W' ,..", CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER WORKSHOP JANUARY 22, 2001 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 Legal Assistant Robin Matusick Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Planning & Zoning Board Donald Masso Russell Mullen Robert Garthwaite Edwin Vopelak Michael Youkon Peter Hellsten Charlene Zeese Absent Absent Present Present Absent Present Absent MEETING PURPOSE The purpose of the meeting was to discuss Edgewater Lakes Golf Course and reclaimed water issues. Mayor Schmidt informed the citizens that this was an information gathering night for the Council. He will try to have questions near the end of the meeting. City Manager Hooper commented on the process they would follow. He pointed out the maps and the handouts that were available. Planning Director Lynne Plaskett went over the proposed Edgewater Lakes Golf Course Community project. City Manager Hooper commented on the water and sewer service that will be provided to this property. He spoke about holding water on this site for reclaimed water and fencing along the railroad. He further informed Council of a major drainage study that will be done. city Manager Hooper further commented on application being made for annexation. The annexation is scheduled to come before Council in March. City Manager Hooper asked anyone from the Planning and Zoning Board if they had any questions. Mr. Hellsten asked Ms. Plaskett to show him a breakdown of the zoning which she did. Mr. Hellsten expressed concern with the intensity of the development. Mr. Garthwaite asked about Phase II being one unit per five acres. Ms. Plaskett explained under the current County zoning classification it is one unit per five acres as well as under their future land use. She further commented on a Planned unit Development. '-'" ....." Mr. Garthwaite asked how much of this project extends into the hammock. Ms. Plaskett explained when it comes to the Planning & Zoning Board it will be broken down more. This is just a preliminary report from the biological people. Ms. Plaskett explained they are looking for any red flags the Board may see that they would like addressed so the developer can make those changes before this comes before the Board. Mr. Garthwaite has concerns about water and asked if this is a recharge area. Ms. Plaskett informed him no. Mr. Vopelak asked if the water from the City is going to be secured onsite for the Golf Course's irrigation. City Manager Hooper commented on irrigation water coming from the stormwater ponds, shallow wells or reclaimed water. This will require a permit from st. John's for consumptive use. Mr. Vopelak asked if there is potential for getting reclaimed water from the County system. City Manager Hooper informed him yes, the only issue is they have a new plant and they really have a limited number of customers so they don't have enough to send it today but they want to make provisions that they can send it in the future. Councilwoman Lichter expressed concern with the areas of environmental and safety. In terms of environmental, she is not convinced on the species that are not there. They think they have spotted a panther in Edgewater Landing. She gave City Manager Hooper a picture and he has checked with three different agencies that think it is a bobcat. Councilwoman Lichter went on to speak about wetlands. She feels this needs to be checked out in terms of the chemicals that are used on the grass going back into the wetlands and where it goes from there. Councilwoman Lichter stated she is not against a golf course community or orderly growth and development but she feels they must balance that with the impact it might have on Edgewater. Councilwoman Lichter further spoke about traffic and questioned if there will be one exit. Ms. Plaskett stated there will be a proposed Volco Road entrance and an entrance off of u.S. #1. Ms. Plaskett commented on the study that DOT will do and what DOT may require the developer to do with regard to traffic. Councilwoman Lichter spoke about the speed on u.S. #1. Councilwoman Lichter questioned where the wells are located in the back and this may be of concern to her. Councilwoman Lichter further spoke about the safety issue of fire. She feels a sub station may need to be considered and discussed with the developer. Councilwoman Lichter spoke about one person owning the property but subletting to different builders. Ms. Plaskett stated they will have a Homeowners Association which they require as part of the development. Mayor Schmidt asked if there is special monitoring that goes on with a golf course and if it is an outside agency or if it is within the ownership of the golf course that monitors the water and the lakes around it. He spoke about the residents on Volco Road being concerned with their private wells. A gentleman stated golf course monitoring wells are a very common requirement nowadays to ensure the water quality stays up and is checked regularly, twice a year. Page -2- Council Workshop January 22, 2001 """ .., Michael Telshow, owner of Spring Lake Golf Resort in Sebring Florida, stated he is working with the developer to create the right environmental atmosphere for this project because of its sensitivity. In their operation in the Sebring area, they have been closely attuned to the environmental issues. There are government agencies that closely watch and restrict everything they do. They have to be licensed to spray pesticides, herbicides or any other chemical on the golf course. They are required to retain the water. Councilman Brown has trouble with the 50 foot lots they are wanting to sell. He feels they are pretty small to be building homes on. Tim Howard, Developer of the proposed Edgewater Lakes project, stated they have included a 50 foot lot ,at the preliminary planning stage of design to accompany some of the requests they have had from various builders they have talked to for a patio or courtyard home. There will still be a 10 to 15 foot separation between buildings. Councilman Brown asked how they will get the golf carts from one side of the railroad tracks to the other. Mr. Howard stated the entire golf course is west of the Florida East Coast railroad tracks. They are going to make arrangements with the county for a caution light or golf cart crossing with signage to slow down. Councilwoman Rhodes asked if that will be disruptive with the trains going through there. Mr. Howard stated he has been advised that there are seven trains daily of which three are in the evening. Councilwoman Lichter mentioned talk of Amtrak coming through in the future. Mr. Howard explained that issue with respect to the amount of traffic will be covered within the traffic impact study. Mayor Schmidt asked Mr. Howard to briefly comment on the attitude of the builders towards this project. Mr. Howard stated he has had meetings with a number of local builders. All of them have indicated an interest in coming in, purchasing some lots and building homes. They will have a very restrictive covenants as well as a Homeowners Association. Councilwoman Lichter asked if this is an adult community. Mr. Howard stated the golf course will be a public golf course and will not be a restrictive community. They can't restrict who the builders sell to. Councilwoman Lichter asked if a more in-depth study will be done on the endangered species. Mr. Howard explained the study presented to the City is preliminary. He further commented on a protective zone for the eagle's nest. Nick Nicholson, resident, feels Council is asking good questions. He congratulated Mr. Howard. He commented on why he feels the water situation is terrible. He asked Council to consider this. He imagines he will be annexed into the City. City Manager Hooper explained there isn't a requirement that anybody from an involuntary annexation is going to be annexed. If they are in the County now and don't wish to be, nobody will for them. Dominic Capria, 606 Topside circle, asked if this is an annexation into the City. City Manager Hooper stated yes, for the 450 acres being discussed. Mr. Capria asked about bulk rates for water and sewer such as what we gave the County. City Manager Hooper explained the water is direct water from the city. The sewer will be wholesale because the sewer capacity comes from the County. Page -3- Council Workshop January 22, 2001 v ....., Mr. Capria stated he is not saying he is for or against. He asked about infrastructure and what the cost will be to the City to put these in. City Manager Hooper stated nothing, the developer puts in all of those required infrastructure improvements. Mr. Capria asked about services. He asked if we would need to build another fire station. City Manager Hooper stated staff has looked at it and concluded that there probably is a need. There has been some discussion with the property owner/developer about either donating a site or charging an impact fee on all those lots to buy a site. Robert Clinton, Volco Road, asked if for some reason his well water becomes polluted with fertilizers or insecticides, 'who does she go after to correct the problem. Mr. Clinton stated they just recently had the County pave the road for the number of people that use it today. He feels this is going to add about a thousand cars more and who is going to pay to upgrade Volco Road. Mr. Clinton spoke'about closing 35th street at Volco Road. He spoke about having half of the golf course on Volco Road and half on the other. He feels they are going to have a contest with cars verses golf carts crossing the road. City Manager Hooper stated everything he has asked will be answered and brought back. Chris Balmer, 3318 Queen Palm Drive, feels this is the type of responsible growth that Edgewater is looking for. Mayor Schmidt asked that there be no more questions because he would like to get to the. second half of the workshop. He informed the citizens they could speak during the regular meeting which will follow the workshop. City Manager Hooper stated there will be plenty of opportunity for questions and comments. Mayor Schmidt asked Edgewater hasn't in anything like this. but they also don't everyone to keep in mind that the City of a long time taken on a subdivision or They aren't in a hurry to get things done want to lose the opportunity. City Manager Hooper commented on the mandates in the new Land Development Code. Department of Environmental Services Director Terry Wadsworth presented background information with regard to reclaimed water. He further commented on the problem. He also commented on the rate comparison with other cities. He went on to speak about providing more supply and storage, increasing the pumping capability and Qoing some improvements to the reclaimed distribution system. The total estimated engineering cost for the construction of this project is about $1.6 million. The engineering cost for engineering inspections is about $150,000. We have a grant from st. John's for doing this project in the amount of $202,000. Mayor Schmidt and Councilwoman Rhodes felt this was a very good information packet. Mayor Schmidt commented on the pressure at the south end of the City. He asked if adding the two pumps and having the extra capacity should eliminate a lot of that. Mr. Wadsworth stated yes. The missing part of the puzzle will come when we do the SR 442 widening. Page -4- Council Workshop January 22, 2001 . " ~ ..." Mayor Schmidt asked how much water we put in the river right now and would adding another 2 million gallon tank eliminate any water being put into the river. Mr. Wadsworth stated we put very little in the river now but we have been in a drought situation. It would only be under a very severe and strained situation that they would have to discharge into the river. Councilwoman Lichter asked about the funding and the areas that do not have reclaimed water. She commented on the grant and asked where the rest of the money will be coming from. Mr. Wadsworth commented on it being a combination of funding.. He would assume that part of the people directly benefitting from the system would be expected to pay a portion of those costs. Councilwoman Lichter feels user should be factored in to the raising of the money. Mr. Wadsworth stated he thinks that is the intention. City Manager Hooper stated the only thing the City can truly pledge are user fees. There may be some overlap over sewer customers because this is the effluent disposal for the entire sewer system. Predominantly, the first targeted area is user fees. No tax dollars will be used. They will try to contain it within the area that has reclaimed water. There may be some call on sewer rates. < Councilwoman Lichter asked if some of the areas that do not receive reclaimed water will receive it in the future? City Manager Hooper stated probably not. The request for demand is going to exceed the source. He further spoke about a strong education program, fining and meters and rates. Councilwoman Rhodes spoke about the over demand being the cause for the need for this. City Manager Hooper explained the system was designed to handle what would be normal irrigation demands. Councilwoman Rhodes asked if they can cut demand then they can avoid this altogether. City Manager Hooper informed her that is not correct because you have enough demand out there just with the growth in Florida Shores. He further commented on pressure problems and getting it out. Councilwoman Rhodes feels that is because people are abusing it. City Manager Hooper explained that is the major portion of it. Councilwoman Rhodes feels if you can stop the abuse, then you don't have the pumping problems. City Manager Hooper feels you don't eliminate them, you reduce them. Mr. Wadsworth feels there is going to be more pressure put on when they go for the next round of permitting to get more flow out of the river as well. Councilwoman Rhodes doesn't see any reason that they should be putting it in the river. City Manager Hooper explained that only occurs during wet weather time. Councilwoman Rhodes sees the need for that but she has an issue with the price tag attached but she sees the need for a bigger storage tank. Councilwoman Lichter asked if any homes in Florida Shores have wells. Mr. Wadsworth stated he didn't know the percentage because we don't permit those. Several of them do have but a lot of them when they go out now, they replace them with reclaimed water. Right now we have 2,114 reclaimed connections out there. There is a waiting list to see the video and a waiting list to be connected. We are still actively making connections. ADJOURNMENT Due to it being 7:00, Mayor Schmidt would like to stay close to the time for the regular meeting. Councilwoman Rhodes moved for adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Lisa Bloomer Page -5- Council Workshop January 22, 2001