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R Meeting Minutes
Charter Review Committee
Monday,October 12,2015 6:30 PM Council Chambers
1. CALL TO ORDER
All individuals were sworn in as Charter Review Committee members by City Clerk Bonnie Brown.
Mrs. Brown called the meeting to order at 6:32 p.m.
2. ROLL CALL
Present 5- Board Member Alexander Penalta,Board Member Carl Gundum,Board Member Jack
Wrightington,Board Member Mark Morse and Board Member Richard Petersen
Also Present: 4-City Manager Tracey Barlow,City Clerk Bonnie Brown,Assistant City Attorney
Michael Ciocchetti, and Deputy City Clerk Mitch Honaker.
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES -None at this time.
4. OLD BUSINESS
Mrs. Brown provided an overview of what the Charter Review Committee (CRC) is; the role of CRC
members; the process for submitting suggested amendments to the Charter; and the Florida Sunshine
Law.
5. NEW BUSINESS
a. AR-2015-113 Election of Chairman and Vice -Chairman
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Member Penalta volunteered to be Chairman of the CRC.
Member Wrightington volunteered to be Vice Chairman of the CRC.
A motion was made by Mr. Morse, second by Mr. Gundrum to appoint Mr. Penalta as the
Charter Review Committee Chair.
A motion was made by Mr. Gundrum, second by Mr. Morse to appoint Mr. Wrightington
as the Charter Review Committee Vice Chair.
Both of the MOTIONS were APPROVED by the following vote:
Yes: 5- Alexander Penalta,Carl Gundum,Jack Wrightington,Mark Morse,and Richard Petersen
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Charter Review Committee Meeting Minutes October 12, 2015
b. AR-2015-114 Set Meeting Dates/Times
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CRC members and staff discussed.- evenings that the Council Chambers is already reserved over the
next three (3) months; the City trying to remain transparent by recording meetings in the Council
Chambers; possible nights to hold CRC meetings; board member conflicts with certain nights of the
week; the Chambers calendar, and the second Monday of each month being available; establishing a
goal of how often to conduct CRC meetings; holding CRC meetings once a month; the process, and
timeline of submitting suggested amendments to the City Council, so they can be placed on the
November 2016 ballot; scheduling the Charter review to be completed in three (3) meetings, but
leaving it open if more are needed to complete the review; and that the next two (2) CRC meeting
dates would be November 9, 2105 and December 14, 2015.
After discussion, the Charter Review Committee (CRC) concurred to: conduct monthly CRC meetings
in Council Chambers on the second Monday of each month, starting at 6:30 p.m.; to set a goal to
complete the CRC review within three (3) meetings; and leaving it open to add additional dates, if
needed.
c. AR-2015-114 Committee Goals
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CRC members and staff discussed.- proposals made by staff for possible amendments to the Charter;
there being no difference between red ink, and blue ink line through annotations, on the staffs
suggested changes; that there are entire sections in the Charter that are outdated, or no longer
required, and that is the reason staff has recommended their removal from the Charter; the
registered voters of the City have the final say on Charter amendments; and the CRC agreed to
review staffs suggested changes to the Charter, starting from page one (1).
During the review of staffs suggested changes to the Charter, CRC members, and staff discussed.-
Options 1 and 2, concerning new building height limitations; spelling out term limits as 'for a term
of four years'; limitations of employment of Council; redefining limitations on borrowing; previous
obligation bond debt issued by the City; forfeiture of office; candidates for office filing paperwork
and paying fees; revising an "Editor's note", and an editors note not being a part of the Charter,
thus, it can be administratively removed; the CRC reviewing anything and everything in the Charter;
changing the Charter review from five (5) years to 10 years; and municipalities having the option to
call for a special Charter review.
CRC members and staff also discussed.- administratively moving Sec. 3.07.e. "Limitations on
borrowing" to Sec. 4.08. "Financial and purchasing procedures and regulations'; Mr. Ciocchetti
stated he will check on the legality of administratively moving Charter items to other sections; they
also discussed Sec. 3.01. - Composition, a Council member is elected at large by the qualified
electors of the City, and possibly changing to elections by District, which would keep the elections
more local; and election ballots currently being identical, and if having individual District voting
would require different ballots for each District.
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Mr. Wrightington stated, for the record.- that he would personally like to stay with the status quo
concerning Council members being elected at large.
CRC members discussed the pros and cons of whether a Council member is elected at large by the
qualified electors of the City, or by individual District.
Gary Conroy, 3701 Queen Palm Drive, District 4 Councilman, discussed.- his campaign, and how it
was confusing for people from other Districts to understand that they could vote for him, not just the
candidates running for their District; many voters not realizing that it is a City wide election, not just
for the Mayor, but also for all District candidates; questioned if their would be a different ballot for
each District, and the associated costs; and suggested adding a place for citizen comments to the
CRC agenda.
CRC members and staff discussed where building requirements are located at in the Charter; and
what happens if the height requirement is placed in the Land Development Code(LDC).
6. ADJOURN
There being no further business to discuss, Chair Penalta adjourned the meeting at 7:43 p.m.
Minutes submitted by:
Mitch Honaker, Deputy City Clerk
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