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05-01-2006 - Regular CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER REGULAR MEETING MAY 1, 2006 7:00 P.M. COMMUNITY CENTER MINUTES CALL TO ORDER 1. Mayor Thomas called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Center. ROLL CALL Mayor Michael Thomas Present Councilwoman Debra Rogers Present Councilman Dennis Vincenzi Present Councilwoman Harriet Rhodes Present Councilwoman Judith Lichter Present City Manager Kenneth Hooper Present City Attorney Mary Doty-Solik Present City Clerk Susan Wadsworth 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/DON ATIONS There were no presentations at this time. 4. CITY COUNCIL REPORTS Councilwoman Rogers had nothing at this time. Councilman Vincenzi had nothing at this time. Councilwoman Rhodes had nothing at this time. Page 1 of 23 Council Regular Meeting May 1, 2006 Councilwoman Lichter reported a complaint she receive from a senior lady regarding the children at Whistle Stop Park using the tennis courts, which have just been refurbished, as a skateboard area and we have a skateboard area there. She would like to try and figure something out and look into this. Councilwoman Lichter stated it was mentioned at the last meeting that Deborah Green was going to be giving a lecture on the waterless gardens at Menard Park. There were sixty people that attended that workshop. Volunteers from Edgewater Landing are the people that take care of that project. 5. CITIZEN COMMENTS The following citizens spoke: Mike Visconti , 316 Pine Breeze Drive, read a prepared statement. He felt it was a sad day for the City of Edgewater due to just hearing City Manager Hooper had resigned because of a handful of citizens and Councilmembers who do not like Mr. Hooper he was forced to resign. Members of the Council and some citizens questioned his integrity, his honesty, his ability to manage and his degree. However, they did not question what an incredible job he has managed to do for eight years for the City. The former Council all respected him and looked to him for guidance. He commented on the accomplishments of City Manager Hooper since he has been here. He feels City Manager Hooper has made a grave decision in resigning. Understandable due to the pressure he was forced to play in their hands. He feels we are looking a man whose knowledge of the City and experience will be a great loss. Many of his peers in neighboring cities respect his ability. Replacing him isn’t going to be easy. Unfortunately we don’t know what we had until it’s too late and at what cost. The past Council had a good relationship with City Manager Hooper and they worked well together. In just six months the new regime has managed to set the City back ten years forcing City Manager Hooper to resign. He quoted a statement from an article in the News Journal. Mayor Thomas informed Mr. Visconti his three minutes were up. Mr. Visconti asked to finish his comments. Mayor Thomas informed him they would be discussing this under Page 2 of 23 Council Regular Meeting May 1, 2006 City Manager Reports. Chris Balmer stated he would give him his three minutes. Mr. Visconti asked for one more minute. Mayor Thomas again stated they would be discussing this at the end of the meeting when it comes up under City Manager. Mr. Visconti asked if he could come back up at that time. Mayor Thomas informed him if he wanted to. Mayor Thomas informed the citizens it would be discussed under City Manager Report. He knew they had a lot of proponents and adversaries and he didn’t want to get into a debate right now. They will be waiting to the end of the meeting to do that. He informed the citizens if they had anything else they wanted to discuss at this time he welcomed them to come forward. Andy Anderson , Pine Tree Drive, asked if the City had a means by which they can tell when visitors come to Edgewater with their RV’s and plug into a friend or relatives home for a certain amount of time. He asked how long they are allowed to stay. City Manager Hooper informed him two weeks and there is a permit that is issued out of the City Clerk’s office. It takes the people coming in to apply for a permit otherwise it turns into a Code Enforcement issue. Fire Chief Barlow gets the complaints and follows up. Mr. Anderson stated there was one that came down this winter and stayed for four and a half months. It made them wonder if there is enforcement of this and if so why it was not enforced. City Manager Hooper stated it is probably complaint driven and someone would have to complain. It’s not something we would normally be patrolling or try to do. Carol Ann Stoughton , 2740 Evergreen Drive, stated at the last Council meeting three letters were given to the City Clerk in regard to the No Name Saloon. She asked if there was going to be anything done about those three letters? Jim Brown , 141 Oak Ridge Avenue, stated some of the Council talked about perception. He feels perception is very important. He stated it appears as though some of this Council is not operating in the best interest of our citizens. It appears they have an agenda of their own and they aren’t listening to any of the people in the know, the committees and boards. They seem to be telling the people Page 3 of 23 Council Regular Meeting May 1, 2006 what they want and not asking them what they want. He thinks they need to rethink the direction they are heading and get it together and get it right or get out. Terry Holland , 1903 Mango Tree Drive, stated everybody is criticizing the administration. It seems to him like this administration took place they have a lot better garbage pickup, refuse pickup, and police enforcement. He thanked the Council for doing a hell of a job. 6. PUBLIC HEARINGS, ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS st A. 1 Reading, Ord. No. 2006-O-14, the City of Edgewater requesting amendments to the data and analysis; and the Goals, Objectives and Policies within the Future Land Use and Housing Elements of the Comprehensive Plan City Attorney Doty-Solik read Ord. 2006-O-14 into the record. City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Thomas opened and closed the public hearing. Councilman Vincenzi moved to approve Ord. 2006-O-14, the City of Edgewater requesting amendments to the data and analysis; and the Goals, Objectives and Policies within the Future Land Use and Housing Elements of the Comprehensive Plan, second by Councilwoman Lichter . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . nd B. 2 Reading, Ord. No. 2006-O-04, James Morris, agent for Charles and Phyllis Barry, requesting an amendment to the Comprehensive plan Future Land Use Map to include 5.04+ acres of land located south of SR 442 and west of Old Mission Road as Commercial with Conservation Overlay, cont. from 3/6/06, Item 6B, now cont. to 6/5/06 to address comments from Volusia County Growth and Resource Management nd C. 2 Reading, Ord. No. 2006-O-08, Anthony and Melissa Lancellotta requesting an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land use Map to Page 4 of 23 Council Regular Meeting May 1, 2006 include .9+ acres of property located at 2923 Oak Trail as Low Density Transitional with Conservation Overlay, cont. to 6/5/06; awaiting comments from Volusia Growth Management Commission nd D. 2 Reading, Ord. No. 2006-O-09, Anthony and Melissa Lancellotta requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to include .9+ acres of property located at 2923 Oak Trail as RT (Rural Transitional), cont. to 6/5/06; awaiting comments from VGMC City Manager Hooper informed Council they needed a motion to continue Items B, C, & D due to waiting for small-scale comp plan amendments. The VGMC needs to take appropriate action before Council has the second reading. ouncilwoman Rhodes moved to continue Items B, C, & D until C the June 5, 2006 meeting, second by Councilman Vincenzi . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . st E. Continuance of 1 Reading, Ord. No. 2006-O-01, Scott Tobin, applicant for Mid Florida Investments, LLC, (River Oaks) requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to include 30.01+ acres of land located east of US1 and north of Jones Fish Camp Road and approval of the associated RPUD Agreement, cont. from 3/2/06; Item 6C City Attorney Doty-Solik read Ord. 2006-O-01 into the record. City Manager Hooper presented a history of the continuance of this ordinance. He made a staff presentation explaining changes made to the development agreement that were proposed by City Manager Hooper in the closed session they just completed. City Manager Hooper informed Mayor Thomas he expected they were going to pickup the hearing where they left off without a full presentation of rehearing the facts. Councilman Vincenzi asked if the developer has agreed to the proposed changes. City Manager Hooper stated he was Page 5 of 23 Council Regular Meeting May 1, 2006 going to come up he would expect and either modify or request to modify some portions of this. He has met with Mr. Hood and they have come to agreement over most of these things. Scott Tobin , 2970 S. Atlantic Ave., commented on the item for the $300,000 river fees being paid at the issuance of the first permit. He clarified that was the first permit for the condominium. City Manager Hooper informed him that was what they put in. Mr. Tobin commented on the concurrency being an issue as they are trying to get a finalized development agreement over the next couple of Council meetings. Staff has reported that currently there is concurrency for the water, sewer and public infrastructure for this project. The PUD agreement has an expiration date of one year. If the permits are not obtained and the actual development doesn’t proceed within one year he imagined they would be back before Council discussing what happened and at that time, the Council could re-evaluate the concurrency. It is important to have a project they can go forward with that they have an agreement within this agreement that there is concurrency right now, that the City will provide water and sewer for the project. He recommended and insisted that they need that guarantee of concurrency. They have spent millions of dollars up to this point. The next step is to do the finalized drawings for the approvals if the PUD is agreed to. He asked that since City staff has acknowledged that the concurrency is there and the only reason they said they need this clause in there is because if in fact they didn’t start for a few years they would have to re-evaluate that concurrency. He asked that the concurrency be part of the PUD. If they don’t start within a year, then this Council has the option to review that situation. City Manager Hooper stated there is no objection to do that for a twelve-month period. Our problem is if it goes longer, you have high demands and limited water and sewer capacity that everybody is trying to purchase, including another City in the south area. A one-year reservation for that would be acceptable. Mr. Tobin then commented on the parking. They had actually decreased that to 1.5 spaces recognizing the desirability of additional open green space with the 1.5 plus 5% they would need to pave. It has been their experience that at 1.5 there is usually to 30 to 50 percent vacancy in the Page 6 of 23 Council Regular Meeting May 1, 2006 spots and they are never full. They will agree if the City wants to go ahead with the original 1.5 plus 5%. He would like the opportunity to send more information to the council if they get approval of this tonight before the second reading so they have an opportunity to look at that. If Council decides they won’t need the spaces and would rather have the green space they could make that revision before the second reading. If they decide they want to stick with the 1.5 plus 5% they are willing to do that without a problem. Mr. Tobin then commented on the conservation easement. They have no problem giving the conservation easement but they want to make it clear this is a luxury condominium complex. It is a gated complex so this is a conservation easement not a public access easement. Councilwoman Lichter mentioned Mr. Tobin not having a problem with the parking in the original agreement. Mr. Tobin explained they looked at the existing Land Development codes and Edgewater didn’t have a condominium designation. They went to the next closest thing, which is a multi-family designation. In the multi-family code the City requires 1.5 plus 5%. He spoke of away to provide additional green space without detracting from it or causing any impact. They are willing to do it either way but they recommended the 1.5. City Manager Hooper suggested they leave the 1.5 + 5% and let the applicant submit something to Mr. Lear to review that and then present it at second reading. He suggested they leave the higher standard in going from the first to the second reading. City Attorney Doty-Solik suggested to Mayor Thomas that he close the public hearing and then go into Council deliberations. City Manager Hooper informed Mayor Thomas he was asking if Council has questions. City Attorney Doty-Solik stated she thought they were going into Council deliberations. Councilwoman Rogers felt this was not land use compatible compared to what we already have in the City. We don’t have anything like this. We mostly have low-rise development in this vicinity. Recently the only condo development that was approved was Edgewater Harbor, which was at a hundred foot height and they recently came back to Page 7 of 23 Council Regular Meeting May 1, 2006 us and asked for us to lower the height to fifty feet for various economic reasons, for development reasons and the future saleability of the condos due to what is going on in the economy. She believed it would have an adverse visual impact. She commented on the pictures presented by the developer. She felt these were swayed to present to the public that it wasn’t going to have an adverse impact. She felt if they were to hire the same type individual to present our case it would prove there is an adverse impact. Her decision is going to be based upon the land use and compatibility and the fact that it will have an adverse visual impact for the City. Councilwoman Rhodes stated everybody that comes to speak on this subject needs to understand that density is already approved. All of the elements are in place and the only decision they have now is sprawl or green space. She asked that anybody else that comes up to speak to answer, which they would rather have, sprawl or green space. Councilwoman Lichter commented on not jumping at the concept of something sixteen stories. After the workshop and the factors that were bothering here were explained. She realize that eighty percent of the land was going to be left pristine verses five or six townhouses. She saw the uniqueness of the project and feels it fits in with smart growth. It does not set a precedent. She commented on passing the permitting process. She feels this would be a unique project that will bring in financial benefits to this community. She spoke of becoming much more favorable to the project after the workshop. She would be voting accordingly tonight. Mayor Thomas stated personally he didn’t want to see condominiums come to Edgewater. He commented on entitlement rights to the developer. He has asked the opinion of legal advice and our attorney has advised us we don’t have much chance to win a lawsuit if they did bring a lawsuit against them. He is going to vote on it with a heavy heart but he is going to do it with an open mind and try to be receptive. If the future land development plans go into effect, this will be the only two that will be in Edgewater. Mayor Thomas opened the public hearing. Page 8 of 23 Council Regular Meeting May 1, 2006 Mike Thompson , 1089 Volco Road, stated he was one of the activists that stands around and gets the petition for the thirty-five foot height limit signed. The people of Edgewater don’t want condos. He feels the people would be able to live with one condo. He feels it is the idea that they are going to set aside this pristine area but the public will not be able to trespass on it. If we own public land on the river he feels like he has a right to walk on that land and go fishing. The people of this town do not want condos. Once you put a condo value on a piece of property there is nothing to stop them from coming up Riverside Drive. They want to stop the condos right up front. Terry Holland , 1803 Mango Tree Drive, he commented on this project being gated and the public not being able to use it. He questioned if you put in million dollar condos, how they are going to be able to afford the tax base. He questioned if they are trying to run the little people out of town. He wants to see the 35 foot limit put on in Edgewater. He asked if enough of citizens get together if they could stop it or is big business more powerful than they are. Councilman Vincenzi stated they probably aren’t going to be able to do anything about this one but if it is put on the ballot in November. Mr. Holland finished his comment by stating they can put a stop to it then. Mr. Holland informed the Council they were wonderful and appreciated everything they were doing. Ben Wagner , 2922 Unity Tree Drive, took exception to the comment made that all of the citizens of Edgewater don’t want a condominium. There is a vacant lot next to his house and if a developer wants to put up a hundred-story one there he is in favor of it. The only way they are going to keep their taxes down is to get more people in town or some businesses and since nobody seems to want to bring businesses the next best thing they have to do is to get more people to share the burden. He spoke of people coming to Florida whether the people that live here want them to or not. Mr. Wagner informed Councilwoman Rhodes he was for sprawl. There was a brief discussion regarding the project being gated. Mr. Tobin mentioned they can’t control the property Page 9 of 23 Council Regular Meeting May 1, 2006 and it is a liability issue but it will be kept pristine. A conservation easement means it will be forever natural and kept the way it is. Councilwoman Rhodes asked City Manager Hooper if there is no public access how did we get grants for this. City Manager Hooper informed her it depends on what they want to put in. If they wanted to put boardwalks in at some later date and came back and identified that. Councilwoman Rhodes stated they don’t have access to it and questioned how they could put anything in it. City Manager Hooper informed her they don’t today but they could talk to them and if they showed them a project that isn’t detrimental to them then that is what they will be able to do. Pat Card asked Mayor Thomas to keep order in the room so they could hear what is going on. City Manager Hooper stated fee simple ownership of the property is retained and owned by the developer. He is giving a conservation overlay, an easement, in favor of the City, County and Water Management District. They have that through most of the new developments. It protects open space and buffers. It is not free reign for the public to come in. They could work with them and come up with a project that doesn’t show a detrimental effect to their project and work out an agreement. Councilwoman Rhodes stated the public has no access to the property regardless of what is built there. Mr. Tobin informed her that is correct. John Russell , Woodland Drive, spoke in support of this proposal for the condominiums. Like Councilwoman Rhodes stated this is an issue of density, not actual development itself. He would like to see 80% of the property maintained in its pristine state. He feels two condominiums is better than back to back town homes where there is no vegetation. Carol Ann Stoughton , 2740 Evergreen Drive, stated she didn’t know how they got to get this in but she thinks a motion was not drawn up properly and had that been done during one of the Council meetings, they wouldn’t be in a lawsuit. Growth doesn’t bring lower taxes. It volcanoes into the need for more services. She asked if we would be maintaining this property should there ever be a storm. What will our costs be? She asked if our sewer plant is Page 10 of 23 Council Regular Meeting May 1, 2006 capable of handling this. She heard we need updating and questioned who would pay that cost. She feels this is a mistake. Any density, any growth has not lowered her taxes. Her taxes in the last year have gone up over $1,000. Growth does not pay for itself. Mike Visconti , 316 Pine Breeze Drive, commented on Coral Trace having a wide open space, no trees, no conservation, and 222 homes. He told the Council to picture the same area with a high rise. There would be more parking spaces, more green spaces, and more conservation. Dot Carlson , 1714 Edgewater Drive, representing ECARD, stated she has already come to Council with all the questions she had. Most of them were answered. She then asked how that got annexed due to it not being contiguous to the City. It has to touch somewhere. City Manager Hooper asked Mr. Lear to show on the map where this property is contiguous. Ms. Carlson stated north of it is Boston Whaler and that is not annexed. Mr. Lear pointed out the property that makes this property contiguous being on the east side of U.S. #1 and adjacent to the subject property. Andy Anderson , Pine Tree Drive, stated he has been in sprawl and he has been in green and he has lived in green before it became sprawl. If the people in this room think their quality of life is going to improve with sprawl, then they need to think again. The quality of life is not going to get better and is going to drop substantially. He feels the taxes will go through the roof. Those who are in favor of this sprawl, he strongly suggested they rethink it. He feels if they vote in favor of the condominiums they are making a mistake. Councilwoman Rhodes stated these developers have a right to build on this property. That is already established. Every property owner has a right to a reasonable use of their property. This developer can either build two tall condos and leave 80 percent of the land untouched or he can build several shorter buildings, which means probably 20% of the land is untouched. That is really the only decision they have at this point in time. That is what she said when she wanted to know if the citizens wanted sprawl or green space. Page 11 of 23 Council Regular Meeting May 1, 2006 John Cordeiro , 1515 Pine Tree Drive, stated if the twin towers had been proposed to be built next to Edgewater Landing would it have gotten this far. Ferd Heeb , 115 N. Riverside Drive, stated green space. Jim Brown , 141 Oak Ridge Avenue, stated Councilwoman Rhodes is exactly right. You have to have smart growth. The builder can build on this property. He would prefer to see eighty percent green area left over and have two condos there then to have it bulldozed flat. You lose the animals and the habitat and this was supposed to be environmentally friendly and that is the way to do it. Mayor Thomas stated as far as he remembered they could build more than that. He questioned if they could concrete the whole thing. Mr. Tobin commented on what they would be able to do with regard to the current Land Development Code Pat Card , 3019 Willow Oak Drive, questioned if the developer is acting responsibly. He stated he could build another Coral Trace just like was approved recently on the old cement plant. How much of the property does he save for wildlife and plants if he does that? Maybe twenty percent, twenty-five percent, maybe less. How much traffic does that generate? Maybe more because they will market to a group that may be here more often, longer and use the roads more often, just like the people on the cement plant that the Council just approved. Maybe even have more cars and more boats if they build like they did in Coral Trace. Maybe they will do town homes, lots of them. How many could they build at fifty feet high? More traffic, more difficulty and more expensive to provide City services, including more people because the families will buy the condominiums. They choose to build a high rise to sell between a half a million and a little over a million dollars per unit. Will they be able to sell them? He didn’t care. They will only kill fifteen to twenty percent, depending on how well the Council negotiates with them, of the land that is in front of them. The rest of it is going to go into conservation easements. They are willing to do that. If they lose their shirt, he didn’t care. The rest of the land will still have a conservation easement on it for perpetuity forever. That easement will go with the land also. That is fifty percent or more of a property that is saved forever. How much of the property next to Whaler and the cement plant site was saved? Zero Page 12 of 23 Council Regular Meeting May 1, 2006 and no one can build anything on a conservation easement here ever. Can you guarantee that to this community any other way? These investors are from Volusia County. They live here and have a stake in the community because they will have to live with the future of this building. They are not running away. Zero wildlife habitat, less than 1400 feet north verses fifty percent or more of the land retained and a conservation easement for perpetuity. Part time residents who won’t bring anything much but one car and a pile of money. Not an easy decision. Takes political courage to support this one. Not necessarily popular but maybe the right thing to do for the community. He believed they should approve it with the conditions of a conservation easement immediately. Anything else you can negotiate for and get out of these people in a pledge of support for your future transportation and conservation proposals at the County and MPO. What can you see from SR 442 and U.S. #1? It’s 4.2 miles away. Mayor Thomas thanked Mr. Card. A gentleman in the audience (tape changed, did not hear name) questioned what good is green area if it is going to be gated. He can’t walk his kids through it, he can’t fish on it and he still can’t look at the wildlife. It’s still private property; it’s not conservation. Robert Lott , 2112 S. Riverside Drive, answered Councilwoman Rhodes question by stating green space. He responded to the gentleman before him regarding what good is green space if his kids can’t play on it. Mr. Lott feels their option is to fill it up with town houses so his kids still won’t be able to play on it. This way they are preserving the property and the land. He is in favor of this project because he feels it is the best use of this land. The two towers will bring in probably 60% more in tax base than the idea of town homes. This is the type of property they don’t make available to our constituents. He thought the Mayor once said he would like to see a cross section of condos down to town houses and individual homes and estate homes so people could choose how they want to live and choose their lifestyle. He feels this project helps. Dave Ross , 2803 Needle Palm Drive, stated he is not opposed to this development. He is listening to the pros and cons and the developer and the people who don’t want it. He has been hearing responsible development. If everybody were Page 13 of 23 Council Regular Meeting May 1, 2006 really interested in responsible development, how about building three fifty-foot towers that would leave 75% of the green space. That is responsible but nobody has offered to do that. Myron Hammond , 2333 S. Ridgewood Avenue, informed the Council they have a hard decision to make. The budget is going to be coming up. There has to be reasonable growth speculation on how everything is going to be. In four years, they might not be here. Growth is coming to this town. You have to control it, look at each site and think about it and see what is respectful for that site. He spoke of what it would cost the City if they put in residential homes verses this condo for this site. He commented on the conservation area and this not costing near on the City what it would the other way. He doesn’t think anyone would let someone come on their property. He urged the Council to think about where the City is going and how they can do it responsibly and with the budget in mind. Mike Schmitt , 206 Porto, New Smyrna Beach, but he owns a house on Pine Street, south of that nightmare. He told the Council to turn around and look at the sign behind them. If they allow this junk to come in here, they could kiss that goodbye forever. They will never see that again on that river. Carol Ann Stoughton , 2740 Evergreen Drive, asked if they could have chairs for the people in the back so they didn’t have to stand. Randy Aldridge , Needle Palm Drive, wished it were as simple as green space verses urban sprawl. He feels they need to make a happy median between the two. He was born and raised here and commented on the atrocity at the Inlet, an eighteen or nineteen story condo and what it looked like from the pristine beautiful New Smyrna he grew up with to what it looked like after they put that monster at the Inlet. Everyone was so disheartened. That is the size of the condo they are thinking of putting along a pristine portion of a very small hometown community. He feels they are opening the gates. He suggested three units six, seen or eight stories, maybe half as much green space but anything other than putting a monster like that here. Page 14 of 23 Council Regular Meeting May 1, 2006 Mayor Thomas commented on the trees on this property that purify the air that the citizens and their children will be using. Just because it is private, don’t think you aren’t going to be using it. Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve Ord. 2006-O-01, Scott Tobin, applicant for Mid Florida Investments, LLC, (River Oaks) requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to include 30.01+ acres of land located east of US1 and north of Jones Fish Camp Road and approval of the associated RPUD Agreement, with the corrections that were given to the Council by staff to be incorporated in this agreement and that were accepted this evening by the developers. City Attorney Doty-Solik suggested Councilwoman Lichter add that paragraph J be amended to reflect that a concurrency review has been conducted and that it is valid for a period of one year from the date of approval. Councilwoman Lichter added this to her motion. Councilwoman Rhodes seconded the motion. The MOTION CARRIED 4-1. Councilwoman Rogers voted NO . There was a ten-minute recess at this time. The meeting recessed at 8:10 p.m. and reconvened at 8:23 p.m. 7. BOARD APPOINTMENTS A.Firefighter’s Pension Fund Board – nomination by Councilman Vincenzi to fill seat due to the expired term of Laura Reilly, who seeks reappointment Councilman Vincenzi moved to reappoint Laura Reilly to the Firefighter’s Pension Fund Board, second by Councilwoman Rhodes . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . 8. CONSENT AGENDA A.Community Development Block Grant – staff recommending approval of the CDBG Annual Plan Worksheet for FY 2006/2007 in the amount of $87,187.00 City Manager Hooper made a staff presentation. Page 15 of 23 Council Regular Meeting May 1, 2006 Councilwoman Rhodes moved to approve the Consent Agenda, second by Councilwoman Lichter . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . 9. OTHER BUSINESS There was no Other Business to be discussed at this time. 10. OFFICER REPORTS A. City Clerk Wadsworth had nothing at this time. B. City Attorney Doty-Solik had nothing at this time. C. City Manager Hooper Mayor Thomas reported that he and City Manager Hooper talked today and Friday and he wants to go. He has told him he wants to go. He realized they had a lot of his proponents there and a lot of people that are not his proponents. They do not need a blood bath tonight. What they need to do is pull this together as fellow Edgewater citizens and go forward. He wants to do other things. City Manager Hooper stated he came here as an interim and did that for a couple of years. Six years of working with previous Councils and the present Council, it is time to move on. They have reached a point when each department has grown and each director has their own authority and has done very well. There are deputy directors and steps in the organization. He has turned in a notice provision that is consistent with his contract. It has a sixty-day clause. He would like Council to consider removing the sixty-day notice clause and having this effective tomorrow in which he will come back on an hourly basis or whatever basis they would like if necessary at the direction of the Acting City Manager. He was going to recommend Finance Director Jon Williams do that. He commented on helping with the first budget. They are going to have their first set of work sessions and public hearings through the middle and later part of May and then a series of work sessions with the Planning and Zoning and Economic Development Boards at the latter part of May into June, where they would be discussing land development code modifications. Page 16 of 23 Council Regular Meeting May 1, 2006 These were two areas he could offer continuation of support and try to help in moving on with that. City Manager Hooper informed the public there was a lot of people present and he would appreciate it if they all just continued on and supporting as much as they can the Council and staff. At this point if they bash and bicker and get angry at each other nothing gets accomplished. He would appreciate that to the maximum extent possible. Before and against, he would like to end this on a friendly, outgoing term. Mayor Thomas stated they are only going to hurt each other. He wants to go tomorrow. They talked about making a smooth transition with the City employees. Their morale should be expected to be topsy turvy right now. He feels he has recommended a very fine individual to fill his position. He feels he is very qualified. He suggested they pay him for the sixty days and give him a two-month vacation. He feels he has done his time and earned that. He feels they should try to get a fresh start with the citizens of Edgewater. They are going to do nothing tonight fighting amongst themselves. Carol Ann Stoughton , 2740 Evergreen Drive, stated she would like to make her citizen’s comment, which is at this time. With regard to the last meeting, she has brought here for City Manager Hooper and anybody to look over the fact that when he worked in Seminole County, he never had a B.S. in biology, an engineering degree. She would like the people in the audience to know that she thinks perhaps the reason City Manager Hooper is resigning is because his corporation, PEC, has done $1,742,000 worth of business since 2002. Because his wife, Ms. Beamer, is the head of Growth and Management, she would like someone to look into the fact of was this illegal and she felt the public should know perhaps there is a little pressure why he did resign. Everything she has is true and factual. Mike Thompson , 1089 Volco Road, stated in December of this year, he sat with an attorney and he discussed this issue with an attorney. He asked him if it was a conflict of interest. The attorney’s exact words were it was a conflict of interest you could drive a semi-truck through. He asked him if there was an ethics violation. The attorney informed him you bet there was. The last time he was in here he jokingly said they really needed to have an Page 17 of 23 Council Regular Meeting May 1, 2006 attorney. He failed to mention they might want to get a criminal attorney and get an opinion on it. He showed Council a tally sheet of how Professional Engineering Consultants and Growth Management that issues every permit in the County, everybody wants to holler about taxes. When you are paying $1,742,000 out of the coffers to Professional Engineering Consultants because you have an inside track at the County this is not good. They are also looking in to whether a whole bunch of money was paid out by the City of Edgewater. He feels they need to sit down and get competent legal counsel that deals with criminal law. They have a problem and it need to be straightened out. Don Schmidt , 1723 Lime Tree Drive, wished the Council good luck. This is their six-month anniversary. He commented on getting his butt kicked during the election. He has several people sitting behind him that he can honestly say he didn’t care if a big locomotive ran them over. That is personal and they aren’t going to get personal with this. He served this City for six good years. They had a Councilmember at the first meeting make a comment that this person didn’t do much because he didn’t like some of the former members. Again, that is a personal opinion and that is okay too. They are supposed to be here to serve the community as a whole. They all have their own ideas but unfortunately some of them can’t leave them at the door. Unfortunately, in the six months he has been gone, that is what is happening right now. We have a Council that doesn’t like certain people so they want them out. We have members that don’t like other people that want them out. Unfortunately he thinks this is just the beginning with Mr. Hooper. He served six years with City Manager Hooper. He trusted him and valued his friendship. He may not have agreed with things he did. All of them as a whole may not have agreed with things he did but he genuinely believed he did it for the good of the City and that is why they backed things. Were there any wrong doings? He defied anybody to show him. They had competent lawyers and law firms to advise them what to do and what not to do. When he is done he is going to shake Mr. Hooper’s hand and he is going to look forward to their first fishing trip so they can drink a few beers on the river and look at Edgewater. Hopefully it stops right here and doesn’t continue to explode. He has a personal feeling it’s not going to happen. He felt if they grabbed newspaper articles from ten to fifteen years ago, he hopes they don’t see things that happened Page 18 of 23 Council Regular Meeting May 1, 2006 then are going to happen now and that is going to be up to the Council. He feels they have a competent man in Jon Williams but isn’t sure once he starts doing it if he is really going to want to do it but you have to put your trust in somebody and he felt Mr. Williams had the knowledge to be able to do that. He wished them all the well. Six months ago he left something on the desk. He had one thought for the Council. He worked hard for six years to make things better and to make Edgewater respectable and responsible. He stated good luck. He is still a resident of Edgewater and has been for twenty-four and a half years. He told the Council they have to have big shoulders. He has heard rumors of two of the councilmembers so far having personal attacks on them. Not physical, but enough to rattle them a little bit. Shame on the people that are doing it. If that is a society is what they are at right now, maybe they need to find a piece of private property where no one else can come on and pitch a tent. Mike Visconti , 316 Pine Breeze Drive, stated he would like to finish what he started. Mayor Thomas feels Mr. Hooper has done an excellent job but wants him to work at the City full time and his job at the City was not totally full time although he has been successful in doing what was needed for the City. He then quoted Councilwoman Rogers as stating she didn’t feel it was a good time. She was sad that Mr. Hooper’s going. With rumors going around and other things, she felt he was tired. He didn’t feel Mr. Hooper was just tired, he felt he has been offended. He has been in office for six years and done an excellent job. He again stated today is a sad day in Edgewater. He invited City Manager Hooper to reconsider but realized that problem was not possible. He wished him well, wished him health, and he wished him future. He also informed him whatever he did, he will be missed in Edgewater. He thanked City Manager Hooper. City Manager Hooper responded to the paper Mr. Stoughton had and stated they were invoices from Volusia County for roadway designs that were bid that went through the public RFP process. Jim Brown , 141 Oak Ridge Avenue, stated he was also on the Council for six years with Mr. Hooper. Perception again. He believes he was backed into a corner and he believed the personal attacks that were done on him have made him make Page 19 of 23 Council Regular Meeting May 1, 2006 this decision. It’s a sad, sad day for this City. Mr. Hooper has been the spark plug that has brought this City to life. Everybody doesn’t agree with everything. He didn’t agree with everything he did but he made Edgewater a city people wanted to come to that people respected. It was no longer a little bumpkin town. It is truly a sad day for the Council. He wanted to shake his hand and he encouraged the people to do something to help out. Mayor Thomas stated he spoke to the attorney today and they don’t have to take any action on his motion but they do have to take some action on the smooth transition the City is going to have to go through. He has spoke to City Manager Hooper and he has been more than willing. He wants to go but he told them if they do elect Mr. Williams and Mr. Williams fills his shoes that he doesn’t have any problem with Mr. Williams calling him. He was sure Mr. Williams wanted to go in there and do his own job but if Mr. Williams wanted to call him on any item he could feel free to do that. City Manager Hooper confirmed that was correct. Mayor Thomas suggested they give him sixty-days paid leave and a standing ovation. Mayor Thomas entertained a motion to that affect. Councilwoman Lichter asked if they would be able to have an opportunity to speak. Mayor Thomas informed him they would. Councilwoman Lichter stated in the room tonight there are two gentlemen she served with eight and a half years ago, Gary Roberts and Myron Hammond. She also served with Jim Brown and Don Schmidt. She has been with Mr. Hooper for eight and a half years and so it is with great reluctance and much regret that she will honor his wishes. He is one of the best City Managers she has come across in forty- eight years of government. He is excellent with Planning, Finance and as a leader of his staff, all of whom are very upset at this moment. In her opinion, he can’t be matched but life brings changes. She has witnessed many of these in her years and as an individual they must go on a different path then they started out with. She with much regret accepted his resignation. She knows he continues to love Edgewater. He will live here and fish here. Her Page 20 of 23 Council Regular Meeting May 1, 2006 heart is very heavy. He will be missed and she doesn’t think he can be matched. Councilwoman Rhodes stated she is the only one up there with nothing to lose, she can’t run again. She can say what she wants to say and do what she wants to do and she doesn’t have to worry about winning an election. Mr. Hooper has always been honest, forthright. All of the allegations that have been brought up, she has paperwork that will dispel every one of them if anyone wanted to see that. The reason Mr. Hooper is leaving is because Mr. Hooper has a backbone. He doesn’t let people push him around and make him do things that are not the best thing for this City. He doesn’t let people make him do things that the Council has not directed him to do. Therefore Mr. Hooper is leaving. Part of that is because part of the Council that is sitting up there right now. She wanted an assurance, she agreed Mr. Hooper wanted to go. She did her best to talk him out of it and he wants to go and frankly she doesn’t blame him one bit. She wanted an assurance that whoever takes his place that part of the criteria for a new City Manager is not going to be to look for somebody with no backbone so they could be pushed around by anybody. She would like this before they go further. Councilman Vincenzi stated he had no problem with that. Councilwoman Rhodes stated then she would say goodbye to Mr. Hooper and try not to cry because this is a sad day and this is going to cost them dearly. She felt Mr. Williams would be excellent and that he had some big shoes to fill. She didn’t know that she would want to do it. She spoke of Mr. Hooper having contacts that other people don’t have. She spoke of having big things in the works. It is going to be very tough to do it without a captain of the ship and hopefully the first mate will get up to speed in a minute. She thanked Mr. Hooper and informed him she enjoyed working with him. Councilman Vincenzi wished Mr. Hooper well and he had no problem honoring his wishes. Councilwoman Rogers stated she has been in office for six months. She has learned an awful lot in a short period of time. She is a very quick learner. She spoke of this being reported in the newspapers as this Council not having harmony. She wanted everyone to think of why people elect Page 21 of 23 Council Regular Meeting May 1, 2006 people. They elect them because they are unique, because they have a brain and because they think. This appears to be the first time a Council really sits down and asks questions, debates the issues. When they don’t roll over and go with what staff recommends, it does not mean they don’t trust staff and that what they are telling them in the best decision. It just means they have a job to research the issues and to answer and make a judgment to the best of their ability. She definitely tried to do that. She is glad Mr. Hooper is a tough cookie. She believed they have more tough people up there now. People that are thinking and that are going forward and that is every Councilmember up there. Every one of them is asking and talking and that is what they are supposed to do. She appreciated the time Mr. Hooper was the City Manager. She felt he would be a great person to work under and learn from. She knows there is a door that opens and a door that closes and she felt Jon Williams would do a great job. She informed Mr. Hooper it was nice to have known him and she was looking forward to working with Mr. Williams. Councilwoman Rhodes moved to appoint Jon Williams as Interim City Manager and give the outgoing City Manager sixty days paid leave . She says paid leave but it’s not leave because he needs to be available for Mr. Williams to call any time of the day or night. Mayor Thomas asked City Manager Hooper if that was agreeable with him. City Manager Hooper informed him yes. The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . Mayor Thomas recognized Jon Williams. Mayor Thomas felt Mr. Hooper deserved a standing ovation for the time he has given the City. Mayor Thomas commented on Mr. Williams’ background. He is so excited about having somebody within the organization get promoted. It is going to be tough. Mr. Williams informed Mr. Hooper it was an honor and pleasure and thanked him for all the opportunities Mr. Hooper has given him. He continued to look forward to serving this community and the citizens of the City in the best capacity that he can. Mr. Hooper is a tough act to follow and there are a lot of controversial issues they have to work through together. One of the things he asked Page 22 of 23 Council Regular Meeting May 1, 2006 of the Council is to have an open line of communication with him so he has an understanding of their goals and objectives and a clear vision of where they need to go. He looked forward to working with every one of the Council. Councilwoman Rhodes commented in working out a contract with Mr. Williams. Mr. Hooper informed her he thought they would get a draft that would come back to Council through the Personnel Department. The Attorney’s office will review and they will see a draft of the interim contract and work that out. Councilwoman Rhodes asked if Ms. Sigler would talk to them individually about what they would like to see in the contract. Mr. Hooper informed her they would draft something tomorrow to give her a starting point and then she would get with the Council. Mayor Thomas stated he appreciated the turnout tonight. He is sure a bunch of them came out to support Mr. Hooper. He appreciated the audience acting like ladies and gentlemen. 11. CITIZEN COMMENTS/CORRSPONDENCE There were no Citizen Comments/Correspondence at this time. A. Tentative Agenda Items There were no Tentative Agenda Items to be discussed at this time. 12. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, Councilwoman Rhodes moved to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 8:55 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Lisa Bloomer Page 23 of 23 Council Regular Meeting May 1, 2006