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06-18-2001 - Workshop . '-" ...., CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER WORKSHOP JUNE 18, 2001 6:30 P.M. COHHUNITY CENTER MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Mayor Schmidt called the Workshop to order at 6:30 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 MEETING PURPOSE The purpose of the meeting was to discuss future plans for Kennedy Park. city Manager Hooper made a brief staff presentation. He stated the Consultants have prepared a list of questions to present to the Council. They are trying to get some input from each of the council regarding what they are looking to do with the park area across the street. Before the evening is over, he would like to talk about coordinating this site and the site across the street. He thinks they are pretty close to making the conclusion that it may be this is the site council is leaning toward putting or expanding the City Hall. That is not up for vote tonight, just general direction from Council to staff. Andrew Van Gaale, Land Design Innovations, stated also with him is Tracy Crowe and Dana Smith who will be working on the redevelopment of Kennedy Park. They already have a completed survey. They are soliciting ideas and comments from the Council. Mr. Van Gaale asked the following questions: 1} which existing facilities are utilized the most? councilwoman Lichter stated she was the one vote against Land Design Innovations taking on this project. She could not see it being taken independently without considering the strong possibility of this location being the best place for city Hall. She thinks they should be considered in conjunction. She thinks it is important that they think about how it is going to relate as the type of scenic park they want it to and still tie in with this being a one or two story city Hall with a gorgeous view. She would like for the mural to stay in some capacity which represents the founders of this city. She stated the original intent of Mrs. Hawks when she gave this land was to use it as city Hall. She spoke about parking being needed. She spoke about the city Hall in Jacksonville Beach. Mayor Schmidt feels the most important are the boat ramps. He thinks the mural is great and he would love to see it stay but he doesn't know the possibility of moving the mural without destroying it or the possibility of redoing it somewhere else. He thought about using the property next to it. He thinks that would be a unique idea. ~ ....." 2) Should Kennedy Park continue to be an active park with recreation facilities, or should it be more passive with grills, picnic areas and landscaping? He would like to see this park and the other park connected with Menard Park being a family park and having Kennedy park more Marine related with the boat ramps. Councilman Vincenzi stated he doesn't see how Kennedy Park can be used for anything else with the way the facility is used now. He spoke about the boats and trailers that are packed in on the weekends. He feels it would be nice to maintain a City Hall in this area and if there is some way to work that out that would be great but he doesn't know the feasibility of it. Councilman Brown spoke about Kennedy Park being a boat oriented park. He feels it should continue to be this. He would like to see a walkway also from this park down to Menard Park. Mayor Schmidt also suggested making a pier at Kennedy Park. He spoke about low profile lighting down Riverwalk to make people want to use it and enjoy the scenery at night. Mr. Van Gaale stated what he is hearing is the most active use would be the boat ramps themselves with the remainder of the park going towards a passive style. Councilwoman Rhodes agreed. Councilwoman Lichter stated originally she had in mind a cracker type building for City Hall but she thinks something in that order could be absolutely exquisite. Mr. Van Gaale asked if the picnic facilities is an important element with covered shelter with barbeque grills. Councilwoman Lichter stated they have other parks that encompass that kind of thing. Councilman Vincenzi stated possibly at Menard Park but he doesn't feel this would be appropriate at Kennedy Park. Mayor Schmidt feels they need something to break it up because you don't want a parking lot with boat ramps. Mr. Van Gaale stated even with less of a focus on recreation they could still do a great landscaping scheme. Mr. Van Gaale asked about facilities for boaters such as a boat wash or fish cleaning stalls. Councilwoman Lichter stated Riverbreeze Park has bathroom facilities and it is an interesting set up. She was thinking of the parking more because she is envisioning that perhaps they will be able to go back behind City Hall. She is not sure it will all fit across the street if they have in mind gardens and eating areas. Mayor Schmidt spoke in opposition to fish cleaning stalls. He feels a boat wash would be good. Councilwoman Lichter likes the idea of a pier. She spoke about a pier that was there in the past. Mr. Van Gaale mentioned floating docks for daytime boat users that may not want to pull up on the ramp for any other use. councilwoman Lichter stated she didn't think they would have that size facility. She doesn't know that they would be pulling up just for that purpose. We are very busy with local people on weekends. 3) which facilities should be located at other parks in the City? Mr. Van Gaale stated so these facilities existing here they believe should be relocated to other parks. He asked if there is something else they would like to add or something that is missing. Councilwoman Lichter stated our Recreation Director is here and he has long had thoughts of eventually moving those things to other facilities. Page -2- Council Workshop June 18, 2001 '-' ..., 4} Which facilities should be replaced? Mr. Van Gaale urged the Council to look on a city-wide basis. They can work through the park itself but for future ideas. He knows they are adding more soccer fields and they have a couple nice things going on with Hawks Park. Mayor Schmidt feels the shuffleboard is a definite and should be moved to another park where they can have more space. 5} Are there any additional recreation facilities that you feel are strongly needed? Councilwoman Lichter stated she would like to see some type of canoeing or kayaking. She is not sure if it would come out of Kennedy Park or down a little further. Mayor Schmidt feels the City needs more basketball areas. He also spoke about a second skateboard facility. Councilwoman Lichter spoke about kids playing basketball in the streets. She also feels they are going to have to do something. Mr. Van Gaale stated they will need some more neighborhood parks in the future. 7} Should the facility be used for night time activities? Should there be lights? Mr. Van Gaale stated Mayor Schmidt already touched on this regarding low level lighting if they were to do a boardwalk. Councilwoman Rhodes mentioned people using the boat ramps at night. Mr. Van Gaale asked how the existing lighting is now. city Manager Hooper stated it is not adequate. Mr. Van Gaale asked about lighting in other parks throughout the City. Councilwoman Lichter stated the Parks and Recreation Board has made a list of their priorities. This they are tying in as something very special because of this situation. This was first on their list. She couldn't remember what was second. Mayor Schmidt stated he thought it was Rotary Park which has the most need for lighting. 7} What is your recommendation for parking at the facility? councilwoman Lichter stated she doesn't think it is all going to fit there. Mr. Van Gaale asked if the Council would envision more parking at the existing park now. Mayor Schmidt and councilman Brown stated more. Mr. Van Gaale asked if they wanted more trailer or simply car parking. Councilwoman Lichter stated she would like it elsewhere herself. Mayor Schmidt stated he would like to see some just car parking but he thinks the need is going to be trailer parking. Mr. Van Gaale stated along with parking the circulation. councilwoman Lichter stated definitely a problem even coming out now. She spoke about problems with turns and other cars coming. That is one reason she would like to get it someplace else. Mr. Van Gaale stated realigning the entrance is an option. city Manager Hooper asked the council if they had any problem with the idea of shared parking. Council had no problem with this. 8} Should the park be made special such as a memorial or City fountain/clock/tower? Mr. Van Gaale stated the park is already a memorial park but is there something else council would like to do? Mayor Schmidt feels that would depend on what happens here. Page -3- Council Workshop June 18, 2001 'w' ..",.; Ms. Crowe made mention of relocating the wishing well if they realign the entrance off of Park Avenue. Councilwoman Lichter stated JoAnne Sikes is our historian and that wishing well has a lot of historic significance. She wouldn't want to answer that without discussing that with her first. Mayor Schmidt stated he is sure they would want it to stay. City Manager Hooper spoke about a median round about. 9) Should the design be native/rustic or more landscaped/memorial? Mr. Van Gaale spoke about bringing this on for further discussion. Ms. Crowe stated the question there a lot of it steers more if City Hall were to be redeveloped here then it would probably be more formal landscape architecture and it would tie into the fact that it is a memorial. They would like a feel for what the Council would like to see there. Councilwoman Lichter feels it is going to depend on what they do with City Hall. Councilwoman Rhodes feels whatever is here she feels they would have more of a formal landscape. Councilwoman Lichter doesn't see a playground there at all. She feels they have other facilities for playgrounds. She further commented on the mural representing what this street was. She is hoping to find a way to incorporate it into the park. Councilman Brown mentioned putting a picnic area or barbeque over there if the wall does stay. Councilwoman Rhodes stated she doesn't see why that couldn't be grass with plantings under the wall with picnic tables or benches. 10) Should there be a theme for the park? Mr. Van Gaale stated then that leaves them to a wrap up with the theme. He gets the gist of the idea. He asked if there is some more specific focus. Councilwoman Lichter feels they need to do something with xeriscaping. City Manager Hooper asked if the council is leaning towards putting some effort to study this as the site for renovation expansion of this City Hall? If they are at the point when they are pretty sure of that, he would like to go ahead and do some planning level studies that would say how this could take shape. Councilwoman Rhodes asked if they are going to leave that up to the voters. City Manager Hooper stated no. They talked about the referendum on funding it but not locating it. Councilwoman Rhodes stated funding might make a difference. City Manager Hooper stated what he is really finding is it doesn't. He has priced three different parcels and the acreage is surprisingly expensive. The property values are running into $150,000 per acre. For that kind of money and expenses they can look at this site that the City owns and probably have a better building for what they are looking to do. Councilman Brown stated he saw a two-story City Hall being built over a parking lot here. He feels they need to put city Hall here. City Manager Hooper spoke about if they were to sell this property and make the money to build somewhere else. The council backed away from wanting to see something commercial here. In general, this is probably the site. He referred to a map that identifies all the parcels between Riverside and u.S. #1 and over to Lamont as far as ownership and assessed values. Councilwoman Lichter stated she is at that point because she has always believed this is a unique spot for it. She also hears from people to keep this site. Page -4- Council Workshop June 18, 2001 .. '-' .."., City Manager Hooper stated the other option is to hold a public hearing. They had the siting Committee and took public input. They could advertise a public hearing to get input. Councilwoman Rhodes stated she feels like the determining factor for the public would be the cost. City Manager Hooper spoke about spending a little money up front to do the planning and figure the cost of this site versus somewhere else. To plan this site out is what they need to do next. If the Council is at that point when they are okay with it he will put it on the agenda for July 2nd for some efforts for these folks to look at this site and do some planning level studying and come back and show some options. Councilwoman Lichter stated she would like to take a field trip to Oviedo. The Council agreed to move on with this. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, there was a five-minute recess. Minutes submitted by: Lisa Bloomer Page -5- Council Workshop June 18, 2001