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07-10-2006 - Regular CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER REGULAR MEETING JULY 10, 2006 7:00 P.M. COMMUNITY CENTER MINUTES 1. CALL TO ORDER 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 Interim City Manager Jon Williams Present Assistant City Attorney Nicholas Palmer Present City Clerk Susan Wadsworth Excused Deputy City Clerk Lisa Bloomer Present INVOCATION, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE There was a silent invocation and pledge of allegiance to the Flag. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Regular Meeting of April 17, 2006 Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve the April 17, 2006 minutes, second by Councilwoman Rhodes . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . B. Regular Meeting of June 5, 2006 Councilwoman Rhodes moved to approve the June 5, 2006 minutes, second by Councilwoman Rogers. The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . Page 1 of 22 Council Regular Meeting July 10, 2006 3. PRESENTATIONS/PROCLAMATIONS/PLAQUES/CERTIFICATES/DONATIONS There were no presentations at this time. CITY COUNCIL REPORTS 4. Councilwoman Lichter stated last Wednesday she decided to go to the roads hearing about I-95 and the widening. This will cover part of Edgewater and she wanted to see the implications. She had for each Councilperson a copy of the pros and cons and what they are going to do. It is a widening from the middle. It’s not the outside that is going to be widened but the medians to make four lanes. They made some mention of a bridge on SR 442 but above it it said New Smyrna Beach. She publicly asked that question and they are supposed to send her an answer if they need New Smyrna Beach or Edgewater. They also talked about in certain places where it isn’t quite as wide as other places they are going to have guardrails in the middle. Councilwoman Lichter commented on mentioning the two new projects that apparently they didn’t seem to have knowledge of that will be abutting that. They mentioned there would be along the way some bear barriers. Councilwoman Lichter reported that she mentioned our escape route that we don’t have, as she has for years. She commented on Maytown Road in Oak Hill and SR 44 in New Smyrna. She informed them they are missing one escape route and that we will be going out further on SR 442 and maybe they could figure something out to go out and then make a curve so they don’t go through the wetlands. She will get an answer to her concerns. She gave the handout to the Council. Councilwoman Rogers had nothing at this time. Councilman Vincenzi had nothing at this time. Councilwoman Rhodes stated she got a phone call about recycling and that the guys leave the trash on the road and don’t always dump all of it. She called and spoke to Assistant City Manager Liz McBride about it. She stated if people have a problem she would like them to let her know. She saw in her mail while she was gone that Southard’s is asking for a rate increase. If she forgets she wanted to be reminded to bring it to their attention and maybe they could do a little better. Page 2 of 22 Council Regular Meeting July 10, 2006 CITIZEN COMMENTS 5. The following citizen spoke: Mike Visconti , 316 Pine Breeze Drive, commented on River Oaks. He stated River Oaks would house 308 units not 300 single-family homes. Eighty percent of the environment will remain natural, with green space and remain in its native state. He then commented on Coral Trace, which he feels is a sea of homes with patches of green. He believes they should control the sprawling. He mentioned Ms. Carlson asking if River Oaks would help Edgewater. He commented on the impact fees the City will get at approximately $5,000 per unit or in excess of $1.6 million. The taxes on each unit would be about $1,200 or more per year on in excess of $369,000. He feels this will absolutely help Edgewater. He felt if height is an issue, maybe the developer could construct four towers at a lesser height, four or six stories, with the same amount of units. Recently he read Ms. Carlson’s group is suing the City. The City will have two lawsuits on its hands, one from Ms. Carlson’s group and one from the developer. He stated Ms. Carlson stated the citizens were overwhelming in responding to her petition but in actuality she must not have had enough signatures. He felt these decisions are to be left to the elected officials. The voters elected them and used their best judgment in what to do with our City. They may not always agree but there will always be pros and cons and that is the way our system of democratics and majority rules. He felt when the Council makes their decision it will be the right one. He would like to see a developer who might consider affordable workforce housing. Interim City Manager Williams felt with the proposals to the Land Development Code he is trying to establish a consensus amongst Council to identify a certain percentage. In the Reflections RPUD tonight, they have identified 40, 30, 30. Something that tries to provide diversity in lot sizes and to satisfy those needs. They are trying to develop a consensus and work with the Council in establishing a lot size that will satisfy everyone’s needs. Mayor Thomas stated diversified living a percentage of smaller lots, medium lots, bigger lots and everybody can’t afford the same thing and everybody doesn’t want to live the same way. PUBLIC HEARINGS, ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS 6. Page 3 of 22 Council Regular Meeting July 10, 2006 A. Public Hearing, John Massey, Massey Enterprises requesting approval of a site plan for development of six (6) townhome units on 8.124+ acres of land west of Massey Ranch Blvd. and east of Massey Ranch Airpark runway Interim City Manager Williams made a staff presentation. Councilwoman Lichter asked how much of the land is free of houses. Development Services Director Darren Lear informed her 50% of the parcel is conservation. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Thomas opened and closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Rhodes moved to approve the site plan for development of six (6) townhome units on 8.124+ acres of land west of Massey Ranch Blvd. and east of Massey Ranch Airpark runway, second by Councilwoman Lichter . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . nd Reading, Ord. No. 2006-O-08, Anthony and Melissa B. 2 Lancellotta requesting an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map to include .9+ acres of property located at 2923 Oak Trail as Low Density Transitional with Conservation Overlay, cont. from 6/05/06, Item 6E Assistant City Attorney Palmer read Ord. 2006-O-08 into the record. Interim City Manager Williams made a staff presentation. Councilwoman Lichter asked if it would be divided in the middle, if they would come out Air Park Road and what the two jettys were. Interim City Manager Williams pointed out the property the Council was making a decision on tonight. He then pointed out the one acre that is existing and already in the City limits. Councilwoman Lichter then questioned how they get to SR 442. Mr. Lear informed her there is an unapproved easement that leads Page 4 of 22 Council Regular Meeting July 10, 2006 to the properties off of Air Park Road that was shown on the map. There was a brief discussion regarding how the property will be divided. Anthony Lancellotta , 2923 Oak Trail, stated the piece he is adding on is 1.5 acres. The house he already has on the property is one acre. The other piece he wants to build a house on will be 1.5 acres. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Thomas opened and closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve Ord. 2006-O-08, Anthony and Melissa Lancellotta requesting an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map to include .9+ acres of property located at 2923 Oak Trail as Low Density Transitional with Conservation Overlay, second by Councilwoman Rogers . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . nd Reading, Ord. No. 2006-O-09, Anthony and Melissa C. 2 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. from 6/05/06, Item 6F Assistant City Attorney Palmer read Ord. 2006-O-09 into the record. He informed the Council that this relates to Item 6B, any public discussion that was part of that public hearing is carried forward and now will become a part of this public hearing. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Thomas opened and closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Rogers moved to approve Ord. 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, second by Councilwoman Lichter . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . Page 5 of 22 Council Regular Meeting July 10, 2006 nd D. 2 Reading, Ord. No. 2006-O-18, Reflections Community Development, LLC requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to include 877.50+ acres of land located at the southwest corner of SR442 and I-95 as RPUD (Residential Planned Unit Development) and approval of associated RPUD Agreement, cont. from 6/19/06, Item 6A Assistant City Attorney Palmer read Ord. 2006-O-18 into the record. Mayor Thomas mentioned the problems with the title report and this being satisfied. Assistant City Attorney Palmer stated they received an updated title report from the applicant, which shows the current owners of the property. It also confirms the owners and the developer who will be signing the agreement is the owner of the property. The City should be comfortable with that owner signing the agreement. He then commented on a small mortgage in the amount of $195,000 that the developer informed him would be satisfied tomorrow. He suggested the City require that mortgage be satisfied or that a joinder be executed by the mortgage holder prior to the recording of the RPUD agreement. Mayor Thomas stated Councilwoman Rogers wanted to negotiate a bigger percentage of lots and asked if this has been worked out with Reflections. Interim City Manager Williams stated one area of discussion was the lot percentages. They also added language in the RPUD as it related to the fair share proportionate agreement with the roads and transportation network and the copy area to the sign. He then addressed the impact fees and the language they added to address Councilwoman Rogers concerns with regard to the fair share proportionate agreement. He then went over the change to Item F – Signage on Page 6 increasing the square footage to 150 square feet. He stated there were no changes proposed to the lot percentages in the original 40, 30, 30 due to the fact that any variations in the lot sizes would have a negative impact on the recreation and open space as well as age oriented sections of this project. He informed Council Ken Mitchell from Mercedes Homes was present to describe the age-oriented sections of the project. Page 6 of 22 Council Regular Meeting July 10, 2006 Interim City Manager Williams disclosed some concerns Councilwoman Rhodes had regarding some of the language in reference to the dedication of public/semi-public property and the issuance of the 600 CO. They have addressed that concern with the developer that that is not an indication for the City or the school to have a facility built by the issuance of the 600 CO. The City has to exercise their option to take those lands by the issuance of the 600 CO. To address any potential budget constraints that may arise out of having to have a facility put in place, they have addressed that issue as well. On Page 1 of the RPUD agreement there was a concern on the duration of the agreement itself and specifically the language that specifies the city, at its sole option, may extend the duration of this agreement or the agreement shall be perpetual and run with the land. That agreement specifying our choices as it relates to the one year required construction permit. If for some reason there are issues that the developer runs into during the one-year process the City can extend that period. Councilwoman Rhodes clarified that was just referring to that one year. Interim City Manager Williams informed her that was correct. Councilwoman Rhodes stated but it says duration of the agreement and questioned if that is going to come back and bite us. When attorneys get involved they will turn the language around to mean something else because it says the duration of this agreement shall be perpetual. Assistant City Attorney Palmer stated that sentence could be clarified to more accurately refer to that one-year time constraint with a simple rewrite of that sentence. He suggested they could put that in the motion to approve. The first sentence of that paragraph where it says the duration of the agreement shall be perpetual and run with the land signifies an indefinite period and if another provision of the agreement says that the City can extend it he didn’t think there would be reason for a court to ever read into that agreement that that would limit a previous part of the agreement that says it’s perpetual and runs with the land. If the City would like clarification that that extension applies… Councilwoman Rhodes informed Assistant City Attorney Palmer as long as he is okay with it. She stated she is tired of lawyers yanking their chains. Every single time they do one of these, it’s always something. It’s manipulated in ways it was never Page 7 of 22 Council Regular Meeting July 10, 2006 meant to be manipulated. She is trying to make it more clear. She questioned how perpetual can be extended. When she read it, it didn’t make sense to her and she doesn’t want a judge or anybody else coming back and saying it isn’t clear and because it’s not clear the City loses. Assistant City Attorney Palmer stated his opinion is that sentence and provision of the agreement would in no way be a detriment to the City. However, if Council wishes they could clarify it to say perhaps the City at its sole option may extend the time frame for which the developer may begin construction of the improvements. Councilwoman Rhodes felt if it wasn’t a big deal, then maybe they should include it. Interim City Manager Williams suggested that upon condition of approval tonight that they add that language and move forward. Councilwoman Lichter stated that was how she felt about the mortgage too. She felt it could be part of the agreement that the mortgage has to be rectified. Councilwoman Rhodes agreed. Councilwoman Lichter felt they have gotten a couple of delays that have been costly to the project. Councilwoman Rogers stated the Council, under the previous City Manager, from 2000 forward, would generally pass first readings. Any questions or debate or comments were always made at the second reading. She feels it is not too late to change. She disagreed with the percentages for these different lot widths. She didn’t believe with the acreage that by changing the percentage of lot widths that it would negatively impact. She felt it would negatively impact the developer’s profit margin but she isn’t up there for the developer’s profit margin, she is up there for the citizens. It is her responsibility to have some fortitude and to look further down the road. We have a huge issue in Volusia County right now with growth and with having a larger lot width we will have a little less growth. She spoke about the type of soils on the west side of I-95 not being the same as the soils on the east side of I-95. We need to pay attention to that. Not only with this development but also the one that is coming to the north of it. She disagreed with the smaller lot widths because of the growth, the types of soil. She is concerned with the water. As far as she has been told we have the water available to provide to this development. Developments southwest of us were told the same thing. Once they get into development and develoment gets build out then Page 8 of 22 Council Regular Meeting July 10, 2006 other excuses come in and people are told mistakes were made. A citizen told her they wouldn’t lose but five or ten acres if they were to go in and adjust the percentages. This is not unreasonable. They are in the process of trying to do a land use change. She feels by the developer not responding to the newspaper and by the fact that the developer has not moved at all to adjust these percentages that he is ignoring them, at least one of them at this point. The previous reasons, that this is a second reading and that it is too late, that is bogus and she doesn’t believe that at all. She hopes the vote tonight will reflect that the Council are responsible citizens representing citizens and they need to look further down the road. She feels they need to realize we are going to suffer a lot of growth issues. She feels this isn’t asking a lot to alter the percentages. Mayor Thomas stated it sounds to him like they have some concerns. He knows they are eager to get going but that land has been out there for years without concrete on it. He feels they should wait until everybody is satisfied. Councilwoman Rhodes stated she didn’t know if everybody could be satisfied. She is of the opinion that whether all of the lots are 75 feet or not they are still going to have the same amount of units. They will just take away from the green space to have larger lots. She feels in that respect she feels like that isn’t even an issue. Affordable housing for the people that live and work here is an issue. She doesn’t see any reason to change it. If it would take more units out of that development and put less people in that development and that would solve that issue then she would be behind it 100%. They have a gross density of 1 ½ units per acre. Right now they issue permits based upon gross density. She feels that gross density is great. It’s a 4.3 net density, which is medium density. They aren’t asking for more than they are entitled to. She didn’t think it was about money because they are going to put the same number of people in there whether you make them take away from the parks or trails or anything else, they are going to have what they are entitled to. The problem she had with the language obviously is solved in one sentence. The other problem she had with the City being required by the 600 CO to do something with that land has also been solved. She didn’t want that to be contingent. By the 600 CO, she didn’t know if the City would have money to do anything with that land. She didn’t Page 9 of 22 Council Regular Meeting July 10, 2006 want to be bound by that. If they have to take title to the land before the 600 CO she didn’t foresee a problem there. Really all of her issues have been addressed. Councilwoman Lichter spoke of being a generalist and looking at it from all people’s angles. For 8 ½ years she has cared about the citizens of this community but she also understands business. She understood there are five members on the Council and if they all go away for a week, it could take five more weeks for a project to get okayed if they say they want their input if four people agree on a particular project. She didn’t think it was fair to make someone wait that amount of time. She tried very hard not to miss any important votes. She looks at it from the viewpoint of everybody. There were certain issues that got taken care of. She spoke of there being many people that would love to be in a nice project and have a fifty-foot lot. They would appreciate it. She doesn’t see anything wrong. The one question he had about the mortgage she believed could be a qualification for this vote and this project because these people have been here numerous times and given other types of concessions, she believed this should be voted on tonight and not postponed. Mayor Thomas opened the public hearing. The following citizens spoke: Dot Carlson , 1714 Edgewater Drive, Representing ECARD, read a letter that was sent by ECARD’s attorney, Lesley Blackner with regard to the density being sought by the applicant for Reflections being unlawful due to violating the minimum environmental standards charter provision in the Volusia County Charter. Before she was finished, Mayor Thomas informed her her three minutes were up. Chris Balmer , 148 William Street, stated it looks like they have complied with everything the City has asked. He feels it looks like a good project and the City has done the due diligence it could do. He didn’t know what more the citizens of Edgewater would ask of Council. He feels they have done their due diligence. Dave Ross , 2803 Needle Palm Drive, stated he serves on the Planning & Zoning Board and he voted in favor of this project. Page 10 of 22 Council Regular Meeting July 10, 2006 He feels Mercedes if a quality developer and that this will be a quality development. He would like to observe that it is perfectly appropriate to ask a developer to negotiate with the City, whether it is the first or second reading. He has negotiated with the School Board, City staff, and the Planning & Zoning Board. He mentioned the developer stating he intends to request future development on some additional property. He suggested they ask him if he would be willing to use some of that land today to increase the lot sizes. He spoke of this being unfortunate for Mr. Mitchell perhaps that he is presenting this to Council at the time they are looking at lot sizes. It’s not too late to request lot size adjustments. He wasn’t suggesting they reduce the number of units. He was suggesting the developer use additional land so he doesn’t minimize any of the good aspects of this. It is the Council’s responsibility to negotiate, not just staff, the School Board and the County. He sees no problem with asking the man to negotiate a little bit more. He thought the developer has given everything he has been asked for. If he has negotiated with the Council, there isn’t one public document showing that he has negotiated with them. He felt maybe the Council should. Ms. Carlson got up and Mayor Thomas informed her she had already addressed this one time. Ms. Carlson informed him she was only concerned about the wells. Mayor Thomas asked her to listen to what he had to say. Mayor Thomas commented on the developer making an extra effort to go around our wellfields. They talked about the road and they are going to have to four-lane the highway and they are going to go on the north side of the road to avoid our wellfields. He commented on this being a unique piece of property. He has been fortunate to traverse the property for over thirty years. He mentioned the high sand ridge that is right next to I-95. Their drainage is going to go into Cow Creek under I-95, none of which is going to affect the Indian River Lagoon system. He feels it looks like a very well planned development. He commented on the developer giving the City twenty acres for a school site. Interim City Manager Williams reminded him of the additional five acres they are giving to the City. Councilwoman Rhodes mentioned the $250 per unit the developer is going to give the City for capital projects. Page 11 of 22 Council Regular Meeting July 10, 2006 Interim City Manager Williams pointed out a 100-foot right-of- way that is extended to the south of the property line. The City has negotiated for them to develop and build that road to the wetland line for any extension of that roadway or that transportation network to the south as additional properties may come on as well. The City has also negotiated a four-lane to the property’s westerly main entrance and then an agreement that we will work with the developer of the Hammock Creek property and to these folks in establishing a proportionate fair share agreement for the extension of SR 442 west to their westerly main entrance and the entrance of Hammock Creek as well. Mayor Thomas stated they have addressed their watering system. They assured them on that. Interim City Manager Williams stated they have addressed the wellfield protection at 200 feet. They have described to the City enclosed drainage systems for protection. Mayor Thomas stated they are going to leave as much natural vegetation to cut down on the watering. Interim City Manager Williams described there being a large network of recreation open space and trails. Mayor Thomas mentioned the sign that Councilwoman Rhodes wanted that says Edgewater on it. Councilwoman Rhodes stated they have asked them to jump through many hoops and they have jumped through every one of them. Ken Mitchell stated any commitment on the fire station or the school is not contingent on any funding. If the City has no funds to build a fire station, he would still be responsible to donate the land for the fire station. If there is no public funding for the schools he would still be responsible to fund the schools. Of the 877 acres, they are only developing 353 acres. They are trying to preserve as much as they can and they are working closely with St. John’s. They have already had delineation of the wetlands agreed to by St. John’s and the Army Corp of Engineers. They are ongoing with the final permitting and things are going quite well. The percentages of the City are very similar to the overall percentages statewide of that product type that they build. It is a reflection of what the Page 12 of 22 Council Regular Meeting July 10, 2006 market is asking them to do as they build in different areas throughout Florida. It is also an accommodation to a plan to have age oriented housing for people that don’t want to do the maintenance and that would rather have the common facilities in the parks in a common area or central area where they can be enjoyed by everybody in the community. The other side of that is also an effort to provide a little bit more affordable housing for younger families. He commented on a fifty-foot project in Titusville. His number one goal when he started was to provide a diversity of housing product for a diversity of residents. It’s not as much about profit as it is about marketability. He wants to meet a wide variety of needs for a wide variety of people in a responsible way. They have been here almost a year from the time that they started trying to find something City staff and the Planning & Zoning Board would support. He asked for Council’s unanimous consent and respectfully asked for their approval. Mayor Thomas stated when they started this the gopher tortoise was listed as a species of special concern and they upgraded that to threatened. He asked if they have gotten their permits. Mr. Mitchell informed him they had. He spoke of there being little evidence of gopher tortoises. They have done a consensus and will have to do mitigation if there are any gopher tortoises that will be in the areas they are developing. They are working with St. John’s in that regard and are sensitive to that. Councilman Vincenzi stated the only reason he is not supporting Councilwoman Rogers’ view on this vote is because they will be doing a lot for the City. He didn’t like the 600 CO. The developer has made a lot of concessions and they have been negotiating for so long. He doesn’t think it is right to make them go back and renegotiate things at this late date. That doesn’t mean he agrees with the lot sizes or the proportions of them. He would love to see no fifty-five foot lots. He feels with other developments that come in the future he won’t be as cooperative. He feels this is a good development with a variety of housing and a variety of commercial. Mayor Thomas asked Ms. Carlson if he addressed her issues. Ms. Carlson informed him no. Dot Carlson , 1714 Edgewater Drive, stated they know where the wells are. She feels they are safe right now. She stated what Page 13 of 22 Council Regular Meeting July 10, 2006 goes on that land is going in the aquifer. What goes in the aquifer, ends up in the river. Eventually it is going to impact those wells. She feels the wells will have to be cleaned and filtered because these people are going to have lawns and they are going to want to pesticide and fertilize. She asked if they are digging wet retention. She feels if they don’t have enough sand under that it isn’t going to filter. Mayor Thomas disagreed. Ms. Carlson felt it would happen with Hammock Creek too. Interim City Manager Williams explained there is a proposal with the new Land Development Code to extend the current buffer to include 500. He thought there was a secondary buffer in place that may be 1,000 feet radius. Mayor Thomas mentioned Plan B & C and having an extra wellfield behind the Water Plant. Ms. Carlson stated Hammock Creek is going to have four wells dug itself. She asked if Edgewater is digging those wells or if it will be the developer. Interim City Manager Williams stated they will be our wells and the City will have the developer pay for the well digging. Ms. Carlson stated the wells are safe out there. She questioned why they are so far out if we don’t have a problem with them being there. She felt they were placed “out there” because it was safe out there. They aren’t “out there” any more. Mayor Thomas informed her that was where the water was easy to get to. Mayor Thomas closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Lichter moved to accept the second reading of Ord. 2006-O-18, Reflections Community Development, LLC requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to include 877.50+ acres of land located at the southwest corner of SR442 and I-95 as RPUD (Residential Planned Unit Development) and approval of associated RPUD Agreement with the contingency that the mortgage problem be taken care of tomorrow. She asked if this would be reasonable. Assistant City Attorney Palmer suggested the mortgage be released or that the mortgage holder execute a joinder and consent to the development agreement. Mayor Thomas asked him if he wanted that in the motion. Assistant City Attorney Palmer Page 14 of 22 Council Regular Meeting July 10, 2006 informed him yes. Councilwoman Lichter agreed to include this in her motion. Assistant City Attorney Palmer suggested the third sentence in the second section be clarified so the City’s right to extend applies to the developers time frame for which to begin construction of the development. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Rhodes . The MOTION CARRIED 4-1. Councilwoman Rogers voted NO . There was a ten-minute recess at this time. The meeting recessed at 8:03 and reconvened at 8:10 p.m. st E. 1 Reading, Ord. No. 2006-O-19, Janice Shore requesting annexation of 1+ acre of property located at 1008 Flying M Court Assistant City Attorney Palmer read Ord. 2006-O-19 into the record. Interim City Manager Williams made a staff presentation. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Thomas opened and closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Rhodes moved to approve Ord. 2006-O-19, Janice Shore requesting annexation of 1+ acre of property located at 1008 Flying M Court, second by Councilwoman Lichter . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . BOARD APPOINTMENTS 7. A.Firefighters’ Pension Fund Board - nomination by Councilwoman Rhodes to fill a seat due to the expired term of Martin Tse, who seeks reappointment Councilwoman Rhodes moved to reappoint Martin Tse to the Firefighters’ Pension Fund Board, second by Councilwoman Lichter . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . Page 15 of 22 Council Regular Meeting July 10, 2006 B.Planning & Zoning Board - nomination by Councilwoman Rogers to fill a seat due to the expired term of Sandy Jones, who seeks reappointment Councilwoman Rogers moved to appoint William Miller to the Planning & Zoning Board, second by Councilwoman Rhodes . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . 8. CONSENT AGENDA A.Law Enforcement Trust Funds - staff recommending approval to use Trust Funds in the amount of $32,462.00 to purchase six (6) mobile radios and five (5) portable radios Mayor Thomas asked Interim Police Chief Taves if the mobiles are for the cars. Interim Police Chief Taves informed him yes. Interim City Manager Williams pointed out an error on the agenda request. It says six mobile radars and it should be six mobile radios. Interim Police Chief Taves explained in the past years the mobile radios have been taken out of the police cars and replaced with laptop computers and that is the way they communicate with dispatch. They are tied in with the Regional Communications Center in Port Orange, which handles Port Orange, New Smyrna Beach and Edgewater. If anything was to happen to our central dispatch we would not be able to communicate with anyone without the mobile radios other than portable radios which don’t have the range. This gives them the capability of switching over to the State system in case of a natural disaster. He spoke of losing communication with our dispatch center during the hurricanes in 2004 and this created a problem. Mayor Thomas stated when he made his rounds to all of the City employees, one big item in the Police Department was the mobile radios. He asked if they would be able to talk car to car without going through dispatch. Interim Police Chief Taves informed him they would and also other cities and other agencies. Page 16 of 22 Council Regular Meeting July 10, 2006 Interim City Manager Williams informed Council they are expensing these moneys out of the Law Enforcement Trust Fund, which is separate from the General Fund. We are using fund balance to make these purchases. There was a large seizure of dollars that took place last fiscal year or the fiscal year prior to that so they would have to come back at the end of this fiscal year and amend the budget to reflect these purchases. Councilwoman Rogers asked if he was saying that the budget they are working on currently that they will be amending it to include this expenditure. Interim City Manager Williams informed her that was correct. Councilwoman Rogers asked if this was something they could have asked the grant writer to look into. She stated there are going to be other needs of the Police Department and she feels we need to start getting onboard and bringing it to somebody so we can get our grant writer to start requesting that grants be addressed for this. Councilwoman Lichter spoke of being on the board for Drug Free Youth and if anything comes up that remotely ties in with Youth and drugs, she felt Interim Police Chief Taves should come in front of their board and ask for an application and see how it applies. She spoke of buying a dog for new Smyrna and Randy Mumpower coming to get things for the DARE program. If anything remotely ties in with young people and drugs, she encouraged Interim Police Chief Taves to please ask for an application because they are looking for projects like that. Interim Police Chief Taves agreed to do so. Councilwoman Rhodes moved to approve the Consent Agenda, second by Councilwoman Lichter . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . 9. OTHER BUSINESS A.Airpark Road Realignment - staff recommends rejecting all bids for the Airpark Road Realignment due to drastically increased construction costs Interim City Manager Williams made a staff presentation. Due to the lack of funding and the increase in construction costs, Page 17 of 22 Council Regular Meeting July 10, 2006 staff is recommending rejecting the bids until a future point when funding sources become available. Councilwoman Lichter stated she thought there was money coming for this project. Interim City Manager Williams explained the County was working on providing some impact fees credits in exchange for right-of-way along Air Park Road. It is his understanding they have experienced such a large increase in construction costs as well that they have had to reallocate th those funds. He stated 10 Street is consuming a large portion of the County’s road budget. Councilwoman Rhodes moved to reject all bids for the Airpark Road Realignment due to drastically increased construction costs, second by Councilman Vincenzi . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0. 10. OFFICER REPORTS A. City Clerk Deputy City Clerk Bloomer had nothing at this time. B. City Attorney Assistant City Attorney Palmer had nothing at this time. C. City Manager Interim City Manager Williams stated he has had a request to move a discussion for reclaimed water rates to the Florida Shores Clubhouse and address some of the residents concerns there. He is willing to take a workshop to those folks if that is their desire for the City to do. They intended on having a discussion on the reclaimed water rates on this agenda but it did not make it. They have identified that item to make its presence known on the next agenda so they can discuss it. They are only going to discuss it at that time and only ask for Council’s consensus on the proposal they are making in terms of the rates and allow them to incorporate that into those informational bills and send those back out to the customers for a month or two to allow them to provide some feedback and they will formally amend the resolution adopting the reclaimed water Page 18 of 22 Council Regular Meeting July 10, 2006 rates. They have landed on a calculation that would indicate an average of 30,000 gallons per month is an appropriate amount of water. They are suggesting internally that they leave the base rate of $10 per month. That would give each customer up to 20,000 gallons. The first tier would be from 20,000 to 40,000 gallons, which will help provide some additional water to those folks that may own larger lots. They are proposing to provide that rate at $.50 per thousand gallons. Anything over 40,000 gallons of consumption in a month, they are looking at $1.00 or $1.25 per thousand gallons. Councilwoman Lichter asked if that is going to be a special meeting. Interim City Manager Williams informed her he would take it to the Florida Shores Clubhouse and talk to those folks and describe to them how they landed on those calculations and the methodologies they used. We are basically following St. John’s guidelines and applying an inch and a half of water per week. Councilwoman Lichter mentioned it being a tiered system. Interim City Manager Williams explained it would basically for the average consumption, they are looking at roughly $15 per month, which is a drastic decrease over what was originally proposed with the rate structure in place. He thinks they will find most folks to be extremely happy. He doesn’t expect to have everybody satisfied. Councilwoman Rhodes questioned if this would be a workshop with the Council. Interim City Manager Williams informed her he would do a workshop with the residents at the Florida Shores Clubhouse and then at the next Council meeting he is going to have an agenda item where they can discuss it and no formal action to take place just a consensus to allow changes to be incorporated into those informational bills and then they send them back out and allow the folks to see those changes and make some comments. Councilwoman Rhodes felt they needed a workshop to set minimum and maximum RPUD standards. She asked each Councilperson if they are in favor of this to speak to Interim City Manager Williams and he could set it up for them. Mayor Thomas informed Interim City Manager Williams he wanted to go with him too. Page 19 of 22 Council Regular Meeting July 10, 2006 Councilwoman Lichter asked how much the regular price is. Interim City Manager Williams informed her it is a $10 base rate right now. As approved right now it only gives you about 12,000 gallons for that first tier at $.80 per thousand gallons. It jumps to $1.25 for anything above 12,000 up to 15,000 gallons. Anything greater than 15,000 jumps to $3.00. They are trying to price it where every gallon is consumed and they don’t have issues with discharging into the river. Councilwoman Lichter stated she didn’t think they had sent out the water cops in a while. She mentioned there being a lot of watering being done at the wrong time, including the City. She feels they have to set an example. If it’s new grass or new plants that is different. She feels every so often they need to send out the water cops. New people moving in have no idea what is going on. It used to be in the newspaper more. She feels it is time to do this again. Interim City Manager Williams agreed to address this. Councilwoman Lichter asked if the Reflections project, their grass and landscaping, would have to meet the same new County requirements that the house had that Interim City Manager Williams moved into. Interim City Manager Williams informed her in the County ordinance that describes the amount of green grass you can have and the amount of flow each sprinklerhead can produce. Councilwoman Lichter asked if it mentions the type of grass. Interim City Manager Williams didn’t believe it did. Councilwoman Lichter feels if that gets implemented in the County, somewhere they will mitigate some of the concerns. Interim City Manager Williams stated each house under this new ordinance has to have a site plan identifying its landscaping and the amount of open space. Mr. Lear stated it is implemented now. Councilwoman Rogers stated she would like to address something since it seems to be a concern of a certain individual. Someone’s attendance or non-attendance at a meeting. They have a tentative agenda item in front of them. Initially at the beginning of this year they were supposed to have a meeting July rdth 3 and July 17. It changed approximately 45 days ago to be thth July 10 and July 24. As certain people will notice, on the Page 20 of 22 Council Regular Meeting July 10, 2006 th tentative agenda item she will be absent on July 24. She believed that Councilpeople are allowed to have vacation and are allowed to miss days because of weddings, family emergencies or funerals. That seems to be the business of the Councilperson. th On July 24 there are several first readings. She will not be present at that meeting for those first readings nor when she booked a vacation with her family was she aware of what was th going to be on the July 24 meeting. Only tentatively was she made aware. She isn’t sure what the point is but an attempted point is no point. This is not the time and place for these things to be discussed. That is why she is with courtesy expressing this at the very end of the meeting verses the public hearing. If someone has a problem with her not being at a meeting, they should address her personally, not in a public forum at a Council meeting. Councilwoman Lichter informed Councilwoman Rogers her comments were in general, not in particular. Councilwoman Rogers asked if the meeting was over. She stated it has been mentioned twice. Mayor Thomas stated we are very happy and proud to have County Councilman Jack Hayman here. He apologized for not introducing him earlier. He appreciated him coming to the meetings. 11.CITIZEN COMMENTS/CORRESPONDENCE The following citizen spoke: Mike Visconti , 316 Pine Breeze Drive, stated a little while back Councilwoman Rogers spoke about the City Hall on U.S. #1 near Wachovia Bank. He spoke of the property next door to the Edgewater Quick Lube being for sale. He feels it is a beautiful piece of property and that the City should look into this. He feels this would be a wonderful place for a new City Hall. The longer we wait the more it is going to cost. Mayor Thomas mentioned having three things going right now for a possible new City Hall. Councilwoman Rhodes stated and not a dime one. A. Tentative Agenda Items Page 21 of 22 Council Regular Meeting July 10, 2006 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 8:35 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Lisa Bloomer Page 22 of 22 Council Regular Meeting July 10, 2006