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07-24-2006 - Regular CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER REGULAR MEETING JULY 24, 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 Excused Councilman Dennis Vincenzi Present Councilwoman Harriet Rhodes Present Councilwoman Judith Lichter Present Interim City Manager Jon Williams Present Assistant City Attorney Nick Palmer 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 A. Presentation of reclaimed water rate structure Director of Environmental Services Terry Wadsworth presented a brief overview of the reclaimed water system, some of the problems they have had with it, the solutions they proposed to take care of those problems and they are going to end up getting to the rate structure they are actually proposing. The rate structure they have been sending out in the bills, as an informational package is not going to be the rate structure they are going to be recommending that the Council go ahead and eventually act Page 1 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 on a resolution for. At the end of the meeting, if Council agrees, they will be asking permission to go ahead and take the new rate and do a couple informational billings before it goes in affect so people can again adjust to what the rates would be on that. Mr. Wadsworth spoke of the sewer being done in Florida Shores as part of the capital improvement program in 1993. Along with that they upgraded the sewer treatment plant from a secondary plant to an advanced waste treatment facility and it included a component for reclaimed water. One of the reasons they did that was we were mandated by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to start eliminating the discharge to the Indian River. We are allowed by design flow to discharge 30% of the annual average daily flow to the river. With our plant being a 2.75 million gallon plant it means we can discharge up to 380,000 gallons a day into the river. This year we are averaging just a little over 200,000. We haven’t discharged anything lately due to the drought we have been experiencing. He spoke of St. John’s requiring the City, as part of the CUP permit, to go ahead and put at least 10% of the reclaimed water flow into irrigation to reduce the dependency on potable water. Mr. Wadsworth stated within the first two years, we went over 1,000 customers. We averaged about 250 a year up until 2004 when the Council told them to put a moratorium on because we weren’t providing a sufficient level of service to the customers in Florida Shores. Mr. Wadsworth then commented on the problems to the system shortly after it went into effect. He commented on a lot of the sprinkler heads fouling because of not putting a cover on the reclaimed water storage tank and algae and particles that got in that were pumped into the system which caused a lot of problems to people’s sprinkler heads. They went ahead and domed the tank at a cost of about $347,000 in 1996. Mr. Wadsworth then commented on meeting peak water demand due to the storage problems. We only had a 1 million gallon tank and kept adding customers. It wasn’t enough to meet peak demands. In 1996, they increased the storage they had to 4 million gallons from 1 million gallons and added a bunch of high service pumps capable of meeting a higher demand. He spoke of securing permission from the Page 2 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 DEP and St. John’s to go ahead and get makeup water from the borrow pit that was next to the sewage treatment plant on Mango Tree Drive. St. John’s went ahead and permitted up to 1 million gallons per day withdrawal, annual daily average. He spoke of not being limited to 1 million gallons per day so during peak demand periods we can actually withdraw more. He spoke of having to construct an augmentation pump station structure in order to take the water out of the lake in order to pump the water through the plant so it could properly disinfected and filtered prior to being discharged to the reclaimed water distribution system. This cost about $2.1 million in 2003. Mr. Wadsworth then commented on the problems they had as they continued to add customers, especially in the southern and southwest corner of Florida Shores not being able to get sufficient pressure to run their sprinkler systems. They took a look at the distribution system and found at th 17 and Mango there was one section of pipe where they lost 17 pounds of pressure within a few feet. To get a more equitable distribution of water to the reclaimed water system from the northern part to the southern part of th Florida Shores they ran a 16-inch line from 17 and Needle th Palm to 25 and Willow Oak. That was done for $804,000. Mr. Wadsworth spoke of having a flat rate user fee. He spoke of the problem with this being people misusing it and over watering and causing some problems. While they were doing the meter replacements on the potable system, they talked to Johnson Controls and went ahead and decided to meter the reclaimed system so they could make sure they could identify the people misusing the system and they could be charged accordingly for what they were using beyond what was necessary. Mr. Wadsworth stated the total amount the City has invested in the system since 1993 when it went in is a little over $4.5 million. Originally the hookup fee to connect to the reclaimed system during the first year was $150. It went up to $200 the very next year to cover costs at a flat rate fee of $5 per month. They went out on a limb and encouraged everybody to use all the water they could to discourage discharge to the Indian River and to meet our CUP demands. When the demand exceeded supply, they started restricting the use of the reclaimed water system. They th use to do a north/south that separated at 25 Street in Florida Shores. That proved to ineffective so we went to Page 3 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 odd/even days much like St. John’s did with the potable and well water. The flat rate fee that was initiated in 2004 was to cover a lot of the costs for the major reclaimed initiative the City did. They decided at that time to go ahead and raise the water connection fee for reclaimed water to better reflect the cost due to the metering and everything and to also go ahead and implement a reclaimed water impact fee so new users to the system would pay for part of the cost that were initiated to serve additional people. Right now, if you were in the Shores and could connect to the reclaimed water system the total would be $1,118.19. The current prevailing monthly fee is $10.53. Mr. Wadsworth then went over the rate structure. They sat down with Johnson Controls and looked at several ways to go ahead and make the amount of money they needed to pay debt service and for the improvements they did. It was a pretty arbitrary rate structure. He spoke of this providing a total shock to a lot of residents when they provided the informational billing. They wanted to get everybody’s attention but they certainly didn’t want to stress everybody out and cause some of the problems it has caused. The base rate is $3.00, 0-10,000 is $.80 per 1,000, 10,000- 12,000 is $1.25 per 1,000, over 12,000 is $3.30 per 1,000. Parts of those rates were picked out because they were the same at the time as what our water rates were. They wanted people to equate reclaimed water with potable water in the sense it was a viable commodity and it was a resource and not just something the City was trying to get rid of. They wanted people to conserve and treat it with a little more respect. They realize after seeing some of the rates they started sending out in the billing was going to be too excessive for people to do lawn irrigation. They want the neighborhoods in Florida Shores to look nice and they want people to take pride in their yards. Edgewater is a great City and they don’t want to discourage people from taking care of their property. At this point, they aren’t recommending adopting the rates that have been going out in the informational billing. Mr. Wadsworth explained what they did was took a real hard look at the lot sizes in Florida Shores and tried to come up with an average for a typical lot, 80’ X 125’. They also included the twenty-foot right-of-way out front by the road. Most people do a good job of mowing and maintaining that as well for the City. Based on the lot size of 80’ X 125’, it would be 11,200 feet. They figured the average Page 4 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 impervious surface would be 3,000 feet. Your open space left to irrigate would be a little over 8,000. At the inch and a half application rate per week that St. John’s describes now, it would add up for a normal residence in Florida Shores when there is no rainfall to about 30,000 gallons per month. He spoke of this being a worse case scenario. Based on the informational rates they have been sending out, if they were to use 30,000 gallons, you would get a bill for $72.90. Again, they weren’t recommending that be the rate structure that is adopted. Mr. Wadsworth went over the rate structure staff is proposing tonight to go ahead and adopt. The base rate, which includes usage up to 20,000 gallons, would be a flat $10.00. 20,000–30,000 gallons would be a precautionary zone. That amount you would be charged over the minimum but it’s really not a hard amount. You have some discretion in use. That is the time when you get above a minimum bill, you can start looking at what you can do to conserve and it shouldn’t provide a terrible shock like the other one did in terms of money. Anything above 30,000 gallons is considered to be more than necessary and certainly beyond a worse case scenario. People that are abusing need to have a wake up call. If they choose to use more than that, they have to pay the cost. He then commented on how they came up with the base rate. There is a certain cost for the improvements already in the ground that we have to pay debt service on. Those particular things go beyond just effluent disposal. When the system first went in the Shores, nobody in the Shores was assessed individually for reclaimed water because the thinking was effluent disposal is a function of everybody in the City. Everybody uses the plant, not just the people in the Shores and disposing of that waste should equally apply to all the users of the system. The augmentation pump station and intake they constructed on the lake, the only people in the City that benefits are the reclaimed water users in Florida Shores so that cost should be passed on to them. The same way with the reclaimed water meters and a portion of the 16” line. The $10 will help recover part of the cost to the debt service payments we had mainly on the bank loan when they did the $2.1 million worth of improvements and the metering system that was $1.3 million. He feels this is a pretty fair rate. The rate for 20,000 to 30,000 gallons, it is basically the same cost as the base rate is. The base rate, if you break the $10 down into what the cost is per $1,000 gallons it is $.50. They aren’t charging Page 5 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 another increment for using more than that. They are trying to make people aware to conserve. Mr. Wadsworth stated at the other rate, the cost was $72.90 for 30,000 gallons. With the rate structure they are recommending, which he feels is fair to everybody, the bill would be $15 as opposed to $72.90. Mr. Wadsworth informed Council they would like consensus from the Council if they think the rates are going to be adequate and believe that is what they should be doing, they would like to include that on a couple of billings so people get used to that and they will bring a resolution st back to Council and they want that enacted for October 1. He would want to go ahead and carry on with not doing any further connections in the Shores for a while until they see how the system operates and what people’s usage is going to be once they are accustomed to the new rates. Mayor Thomas asked how much we are emptying into the Indian River. Mr. Wadsworth informed him the average this year has been 217,000 gallons a day. That is because the winter months were wetter than usual. Mayor Thomas asked what type of water we are emptying, stormwater or reclaimed water. Mr. Wadsworth informed him it is basically reclaimed water. It is plant effluent that has been treated and filtered. They have to remove the chlorine before it is discharged. They can go up to 830,000 gallons per day and we are only doing 217,000 gallons per day. In the past couple of months, he didn’t believe they had hardly any. Councilwoman Lichter asked if the public knew they were going to be having a meeting for their input also at the Florida Shores Clubhouse on August 2nd. Mr. Wadsworth didn’t know how well that had been circulated or announced. Interim City Manager Williams stated they are going to advertise it. They have also provided a message on our website and they will be providing via newspaper advertisement as well that they will be holding that workshop. Councilwoman Lichter commented on when they first started with the reclaimed water it was a throw away item. Every city felt that way about it. St. John’s and more attention to water conservation has changed the emphasis that this is Page 6 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 a more treasured type of commodity. She spoke of every city facing an increase. She mentioned reclaimed water only being available in Florida Shores, which she felt some people might not realize. She spoke of paying more for the more you use and this being a conservation measure that St. John’s encourages us to do. She spoke of needing St. John’s approval on things and the City’s Consumptive Use Permit and waiting to hear from St. John’s about our CUP. Only about five or six cities have heard. This is the type of thing they look at to see that Edgewater is trying to conserve water. Mr. Wadsworth further explained it is an inclining block rate. He spoke of the cost associated with treating the water and there being more cost, which is why there is a graduation from the $.50 to the $1.00 as well. It costs the City more to produce and they pass that along to the users and causing the need for the extra cost. Councilwoman Lichter commented on concerns from the residents that have more than two lots. She mentioned new homes, with the new building codes, will not be grassing three lots but instead putting in waterless types of things. That is the type of thing that the developers are being required to do today. Mr. Wadsworth spoke of upping the allotment from what they talked about before as far as the amount of water per lot. He spoke of when the original computations were done throughout Florida Shores being based on a ½ inch application twice a week. He spoke of information coming out from the University of Florida extension, Volusia County Environmental and WAV that says that is sufficient. Most people are used to getting the ¾ inch twice a week. They are trying to stay consistent with that and trying to make sure when people think water conservation they don’t have all the conflicting views. They have adjusted their figures to reflect that. Councilwoman Lichter asked if this equates with the two days a week required on the east side of the City. Mr. Wadsworth explained reclaimed water is exempt from those conditions. They can still water the three days a week. He suggested they do three half-inch applications rather than three ¾ inch applications. Page 7 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 Councilman Vincenzi stated he argued against those rates from the beginning. He didn’t think they were right and felt they were too excessive. He felt the new proposed rates were a lot more reasonable. It gives people enough water that they can maintain their lawn and it isn’t over charging. He felt it was great that they were charged more if they go above 30,000. He felt 30,000 gallons was a reasonable amount for someone to maintain their plants and lawns. He asked about implementing an informational billing. Mr. Wadsworth informed him that is what they have discussed. Councilman Vincenzi felt that was a great idea. He felt instead of just providing the rates for if you use this much it will cost you this much that the guidelines should also be provided. Mr. Wadsworth stated he thought they had the capability to do that. Interim City Manager Williams confirmed they did. They will try to incorporate it into the informational bills as they are currently written. Mr. Wadsworth agreed to do this. Councilman Vincenzi feels this is a much more livable structure than the old one. Mr. Wadsworth stated it wouldn’t have the same shock value initially though but at least they got people’s attention. Councilman Vincenzi stated his opinion is it wasn’t intentionally put in place to get people’s attention. He felt they were serious about it. Councilwoman Rhodes agreed with Councilman Vincenzi and felt it was a good idea to provide the public with some guidelines. She spoke of a property on Willow Oak Drive that put the stones with the islands of plants and she likes it. It may be something she might do some day. She felt this was a better way to go. Mayor Thomas expressed concern with the 200,000 gallons that are going into the river a day. He asked if they have a goal set not to do that or why isn’t that 200,000 gallons being utilized. Mr. Wadsworth commented on this being a wet weather discharge that the City is allowed to do. Usually the only time they have to do it is during excessive rain. The State recognizes that. For future developments, they are requiring them to install reclaim systems themselves and Page 8 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 maybe storage ponds onsite so some of that flow they can send there and get rid of the whole thing. Right now it is hard to do in Florida Shores alone. They have voluntary connections and they have about 3,000 right now. He spoke of not having any additional storage. One of the things they have considered doing is storing it in the lake that we withdraw from but there are some parameters they have to go through to be able to accomplish that. They had talked about making that a park and some aspects of that may be in conflict. They are always looking for alternatives. Obviously their goal is zero discharge. They really don’t want to send a drop to the river and they are always trying to find ways to shut that down totally. They don’t ever want to give that ability to do that up because sometimes there are emergency situations. Councilwoman Rhodes commented on the canals on Mission Road being dry and asked why. Mayor Thomas informed her it is extremely dry. Councilwoman Rhodes couldn’t recall any time she has driven down Mission Road and the canals were dry. Mr. Wadsworth informed her the Hammock has to fill back up. It is empty. It won’t go into the canals until the Hammock fills up. Councilwoman Lichter had a question concerning the systems the people had before in Florida Shores. Some have wells. She spoke of calls she received from people that were going to revert back to their well system with the old rates that were proposed. She asked if someone puts in a new home in Florida shores if they can get a well. Mr. Wadsworth informed her they could go the well way right now. If they declare, which they have, a moratorium on the reclaimed water, which means it is not available, then they are allowed to pursue other alternatives. The City doesn’t issue well permits. They have to go through Volusia County. As long as they aren’t making that resource, reclaimed water available, yes, they can go to a well for an option. Councilwoman Lichter asked if someone that currently has reclaimed water could go back to using their well. Mr. Wadsworth stated if they had a well onsite that would be an option. They could request the service be capped if they Page 9 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 wanted to. He stated they couldn’t have the two interconnected onsite. Councilman Vincenzi asked about the moratorium and not hooking up any new customers. He asked if they were going to wait and see how the system can handle it. Mr. Wadsworth explained with the new rates, he imagined people would be doing some adjustment of their usage. After a couple of months people are going to find their comfort level with that. Once they establish that they will know if they have enough product to meet the demands at all times. He would rather see when people get accustomed to the news rates how much they are going to use and what their habits are going to be at that time. Councilman Vincenzi stated they are planning on implementing the new rates within a couple of months. Mr. st Wadsworth stated hopefully October 1 for the new fiscal year. Councilman Vincenzi asked about installing or allowing new customers to hook up. He would like to see them make sure the system can handle it or if it can’t what they have to do to augment it if they decide to add customers. That would mean going through another dry season. Mr. Wadsworth stated he would be comfortable after a couple of months if they wanted to lift the moratorium when the new rates go into effect. Councilman Vincenzi wanted to make sure they didn’t add customers during the wet season when no one uses the water and then they run into the same problem again where they are running out of water. Mr. Wadsworth commented on Florida Shores being largely developed and with the cost of hooking up to the system now people aren’t exactly knocking each other down to get to it. If they declare it is open they are forcing people in that position because then they don’t have the option of reclaimed water or well. If the reclaimed water is available the County is going to make them connect to that system. He wants to make sure they can make the demand before they make that commitment. Mayor Thomas felt staff did a very good job covering all the basis. Interim City Manager Williams informed Council the proposed base rate is $10.00, which is a reduction over the current Page 10 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 rate. Once they implement these rates, the customer will see a reduction in the current base rate of $.53 per month. As soon as they get consensus tonight they are looking at bringing the informational bills with the new rates will go out as early as Thursday for Section 2, in time for the reclaimed workshop at the Florida Shores Clubhouse. On th September 25 they will bring this back for an amendment st for an effective date of October 1 . Mayor Thomas confirmed they were not looking for a vote tonight just a consensus. Interim City Manager Williams confirmed they were looking for a consensus. It was the consensus of Council to go ahead and take the new rate and do a couple informational billings before it goes in affect so people can again adjust to what the rates would be. 4. CITY COUNCIL REPORTS Mayor Thomas had nothing at this time. Councilman Vincenzi had nothing at this time. Councilwoman Rhodes stated on Friday the General Employees Pension Board met and since they have such a problem with the City’s contribution to the pension, it’s costing the City a lot of money, they hired a consultant and if things go the way they should go hopefully they will be able to cut that ¼ mill out of the millage rate in savings of pension costs alone. rd Councilwoman Lichter reported that on August 23 there was going to be a most important Water Authority vote, whether to continue WAV or not. She has a very strong feeling that WAV will continue. It will take ¾ vote to disband it and there are many that still see the value of working together and not ending up with water wars. She spoke of the Managers Group meeting a couple of times to hear all the angles, the TAC Group has met and the Legislative Group has met. She agreed to keep the Council informed. She spoke of the Utilities Commission making the press because they said they were going to go their own way. New Smryna is one of the only cities that have a Utilities Commission and they felt they should have been the representatives from the City, not someone from the legislative body. They have said they want to put in a saltwater plant. They have also Page 11 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 said they want new wells closer to Deland. That is the kind of action that starts water wars. That is what the WAV Group has been trying to avoid for three years. They hope St. John’s will become more forceful. Councilwoman Lichter spoke of a letter in their packets from a lady in Edgewater that rents her home to people that got stuck with very a very high water bill from a tenant that was evicted and she would like the City again to look at the idea of the tenant being billed and not the owner of a property. She suggested maybe they should look at this subject again. 5. CITIZEN COMMENTS The following citizens spoke: Andy Anderson , Pine Tree Drive, informed Mayor Thomas he campaigned on a platform of controlled growth. According to what they have been reading lately, first he voted for the two towers along U.S. #1. He voted against them and then he voted for them. He, his wife and his neighbors have been doing a lot of talking and they are disappointed with his voting record. They thought he would be more consistent with controlled growth and stick with the whole platform when he ran for Mayor. He stated they could be wrong and maybe they are misinterpreting and not seeing something. It looks like it’s not turning out that way. He spoke of there being a split in the City Council tonight with some wanting growth and some not wanting growth. He hopes they are wrong with their interpretation of the way Mayor Thomas has been voting. He hopes the trend doesn’t continue in that direction. He spoke of not being able to stop growth but too much at once not being good. Roy Hammock , Travelers Palm Drive, stated he moved to Florida Shores 2 ½ years ago and the reclaimed water was $5. There was a 100% increase to $10 and now this is going to cause it to go up another 50% for him because he is probably going to have to pay $15. To put a half an inch of water down in his yard it is going to require about 22,000 gallons. He spoke of sprinklers not being accurate and putting more water down in some areas and not enough down in other areas. He asked Council to consider either dropping the base rate down a couple of dollars or take the gallons per month that you are allowed to use up to 30,000 gallons. He spoke of still having to pay even if he Page 12 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 doesn’t use any water at all, such as during a rainy month. He is on a fixed income and is retired. He was ready to dig a well after the shock value of the first set of proposed rates. He isn’t prepared to have increases keep going up. He spoke of health care benefits that keep being taken away from him. He is finding himself getting into a pinch and is very concerned about things like this. Dominic Capria , 606 Topside Circle, felt Councilwoman Rhodes gave them some good news tonight and he thanked her. He asked if there was a possibility that it could be more than ¼ mill. He is assuming there is at least $261,000 coming off the pension thing after this meeting. He asked when the meetings are held and if they are before they have to submit. He knows they won’t be before we have to submit the TRIM rate. Councilwoman Rhodes stated they are working very hard to make it happen before that. Mr. Capria feels they should vote on 5.95 based on that news. Mr. Capria asked that due to Item 9B – Setting of Millage Rate being at the end of the agenda, he requested it be moved up on the agenda after Citizen Comments. Councilwoman Rhodes didn’t feel that was fair and felt if they had to stay everybody should have to stay. Jeanne DelNigro , 3130 Tamarind Drive, stated years ago when the reclaimed water was put in, they were told it would be $5 per month, never an increase. She feels these people should not be paying more money for this reclaimed water. It was already set way back. Mr. Wadsworth didn’t remember the statement that it would never go up. She would like to know for sure because their understanding was it was going to be $5 per month and that was it. They weren’t going to put meters on the reclaimed water. She would like to know why and stated she didn’t understand this. Councilwoman Lichter stated she thought District 4 started to have a terrible problem of not getting any. Mayor Thomas informed Councilwoman Lichter this wasn’t a debate and asked her to let Ms. DelNigro have her time. Councilwoman Lichter stated she was just trying to answer her question. She had no intention of a debate. Page 13 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 Ms. DelNigro asked for someone to go back to those minutes of when the reclaimed water went in. At that time she thought it was $175 to hook up and then it was $5 per month. If she is not mistaken the Council said at that time that the $5 would stay at $5. There will be no increases on the reclaimed water. She stated when you flush your toilet, you are paying for it and then when you use it on your lawn, you are paying for it again. She asked if this makes sense. Mayor Thomas and Councilwoman Rhodes stated yes. Ms. DelNigro stated it doesn’t click in her head. She is already paying for it on her water bill. Councilwoman Lichter informed Mayor Thomas she felt none of the Council should be able to answer if she couldn’t before. Ms. DelNigro again asked for someone to look in the minutes and let her know. She was pretty sure she was right on that. Interim City Manager Williams agreed to research those rates and provide that information to Ms. DelNigro. Mayor Thomas asked Councilwoman Lichter if she would like to respond. Councilwoman Lichter stated problems started to develop especially in District 4 because there was insufficient pipe, wrong usage, etc. Some of these details, expensive type of improvements that Mr. Wadsworth has told them they put in, was a result or purposely put in to help get more equity all over the City. She believed she was on the Council back then and to her knowledge never was $5 ever promised forever. Every City did about the same type of mentality. They thought it was something that was being given away and that it was a throw out and that was all it was worth. However the cities fast learned from St. John’s that this is a special commodity and it became more of a treasure. She feels when Interim City Manager Williams looks it up they are going to find that it was never promised that forever it would stay $5. Ms. DelNigro asked how much it costs to hook up. Mayor Thomas informed Ms. DelNigro she wasn’t there at the Page 14 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 beginning of the meeting and that Mr. Wadsworth gave a detailed presentation and she wasn’t there for it. Interim City Manager Williams stated there is an impact fee of a little over $1,000. Mayor Thomas stated and Mr. Wadsworth gave the reasoning for it. Ms. DelNigro asked Interim City Manager Williams if he would call her and he informed her he would. Dominic Capria, 606 Topside Circle, stated he made a request and felt he deserved the respect of a yes or no. Nobody said anything. Do they move it up or don’t they? Councilwoman Rhodes stated they are going to finish everybody’s comments. Mr. Capria stated then they would let them know if they are going to move it up or not. Councilwoman Rhodes informed him right. Ronnie DuBois, 1330 Mango Tree Drive, stated the presentation Mr. Wadsworth made earlier on the reclaimed water eased her mind quite a bit. She was really upset when she came to the meeting but now she feels it makes sense. She asked how long this rate is going to be implemented and if it will go up every year or what are they looking at projected in the future. She has only been here four years and it has increased quite a bit. When they took it over, they are still paying for it in their mortgage, the hookup because it was left over from the other people. Ms. DuBois stated she had the City come out and look at her meter. She has a system that is automated and programmed. A neighbor down the street also had the same people put the same system in and when they came to check her meter they said there were no leaks but that she had used over 30,000 and that it was going to be a projected $91.00 bill. The neighbor up the street is only getting $3 base bills every month and they are hooked up by the same company that did their irrigation system. She questioned why hers would be that different from theirs and why aren’t they having anything read on theirs. When she brought that up to the gentleman that came to her house, he told her she just worry about her own bill. She didn’t like that answer and didn’t feel that was a fair enough answer. They are hooked up to the reclaimed water and are only paying the projected $3 base fee since they implemented it. Page 15 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 Councilwoman Rhodes asked if their timer is set the same as hers. Ms. DuBois informed her they water more than anybody in the neighborhood. She would like to know from the water people who could look into the situation to make sure it is all fair. Rob Hunter, 2521 Travelers Palm Drive, stated he is feeling pretty good with the reclaimed rates. His concern was with the 6.45 millage rate. He seconded the gentleman’s request to bump that up. Dave Conizner, Unity Tree Drive, stated the watering system was new to him and asked for information in the future as to how many gallons per minute it takes for half an hour or hour of running. He knows different systems have different sprinklers but he would assume it should be fairly close to how much gallonage so they could have an idea of how long to water. He said it is nice to see green grass after coming from Indiana where everything is usually burnt up up there this time of the year. He asked by people watering even when it rains a lot doesn’t that keep the cost down from putting the money in the river. He clarified that if they don’t water because it is raining then they have to pay to put it into the river. He expressed concerns with not knowing how much water he is putting on his lawn due to purchasing the home with the system already there. He spoke of dissipating the water into their yards so they don’t have to put it into the St. John’s River. Art Martin, Yule Tree Drive, wanted to talk about the millage rate and asked if he should talk now or wait until that item. Mayor Thomas told him whichever he preferred. Interim City Manager Williams informed Council that item the action tonight was not scheduled for a public hearing but if Council’s pleasure was to move it up they could do so. Mr. Martin stated according to the News Journal, a couple of weeks ago they put out the tax structure and this town has the highest tax rate in Volusia County. He didn’t understand that because every time they say they want to get something done in this town they say they will raise the millage rate and then they say in a couple of years they will give it back to you. When it comes time to get Page 16 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 it back then the City Manager or somebody else says they can’t do that or they have to cut services. With the hurricanes we had a couple of years ago it is Joe taxpayer that gets nailed on everything, every insurance policy, automobile, homeowners, the works. Every time somebody wants extra money they go to the taxpayer. He didn’t think that was fair. It is about time the millage rate got back where it is supposed to be. If it is not, that tells him the Council isn’t doing a good job. Pat Card, 3019 Willow Oak Drive, stated there has been a great deal of publicity lately regarding the Pension Plans. The way they determine how much the Pension Plan has cost the City is when the last living participant dies. Until then it is all assumptions. He presented an example of how an assumption can work both ways. He urged the Council to be very careful if they come up and change assumptions whether they know what the assumptions really are because what they could do is defer the cost of the pensions to the next generation of kids. Mr. Capria stated he had not spoken on the millage rate and would like to do that. Mr. Capria asked when the next workshop was. Interim City th Manager Williams informed him August 14. Councilwoman Rhodes informed him that was only going to be the Enterprise Funds and that they had already done the general budget. Mr. Capria stated he thought they were going to discuss that further in the workshops. Mr. Capria asked what has happened with the dredging material and if the City has gotten any money yet and if we are going to get any money. Mayor Thomas stated they weren’t going to answer that right now and they weren’t going to debate it. Mr. Capria asked if he would get an answer for anything he asked. Mayor Thomas informed him they would do it at the end. Mr. Capria stated he would wait until the end to bring them up. Mayor Thomas asked for a show of hands of how many people think there is a problem with their water. He stated yes they have a problem with their water and they are going to run out of water. He mentioned Councilwoman Lichter serving on the Water Authority of Volusia (WAV) and spoke of the cities fighting over water right now and that is why they are pulling out of WAV. They don’t want anybody Page 17 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 controlling their water. Edgewater is being the good steward with St. John’s and setting the example for that. He further commented on water being pumped to the Keys. They are going to be pumping water to us if they don’t conserve. He is tired of hearing about people wanting to water their Floratam grass. If someone were going to charge him more money to water his Floratam grass he would do something about it and put in rocks or palm trees or native vegetation. If they don’t conserve water they are going to be paying for a pipeline next to I-95. There was a fifteen-minute recess at this time. The meeting recessed at 8:05 p.m. and reconvened at 8:20 p.m. 6. PUBLIC HEARINGS, ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS nd A.2 Reading, Ord. No. 2006-O-19, Janice Shore requesting annexation of 1+ acres of property located at 1008 Flying M Court Assistant City Attorney Palmer read Ord. 2006-O-19 into the record. Development Services Director Darren Lear made a staff presentation. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Thomas opened and closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve Ord. 2006-O-19, Janice Shore requesting annexation of 1+ acres of property located at 1008 Flying M Court, second by Councilman Vincenzi . The MOTION CARRIED 4-0 . st Reading, Ord. No. 2006-O-20, Janice Shore B.1 requesting an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map to include 1.0+ acres of property located at 1008 Flying M Court as Low Density Transition with Conservation Overlay Assistant City Attorney Palmer read Ord. 2006-O-20 into the record. Mr. Lear made a staff presentation. Page 18 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 Councilman Vincenzi asked what the rezoning request was going to be later. Mr. Lear informed him rural transitional. Councilman Vincenzi asked him what the difference was. Mr. Lear informed him they were basically the same. The future land use is low-density transition and the zoning is called rural transitional. Councilman Vincenzi then stated there is no reason for going through all these things. Mr. Lear informed him they had to by Florida Statutes. Councilman Vincenzi asked what she wanted to do. Mr. Lear informed him build a house in the City. Councilwoman Lichter asked Mr. Lear if there were going to be other streets in the area that were named Flying with a letter. Mr. Lear informed her no. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Thomas opened and closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Rhodes moved to approve Ord. 2006-O-20, Janice Shore requesting an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map to include 1.0+ acres of property located at 1008 Flying M Court as Low Density Transition with Conservation Overlay, second by Councilwoman Lichter . The MOTION CARRIED 4-0 . st C.1 Reading, Ord. No. 2006-O-22, Stephen and Jill Hole requesting an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map to change 0.17+ acres of property located east of 114 Oak Ridge Avenue from Low Density Residential to Commercial Assistant City Attorney Palmer read Ord. 2006-O-22 into the record. Mr. Lear made a staff presentation. There was a discussion regarding there being different zonings and land uses on this property. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Thomas opened and closed the public hearing. Councilman Vincenzi moved to approve Ord. 2006-O-22, Stephen and Jill Hole requesting an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map to change 0.17+ Page 19 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 acres of property located east of 114 Oak Ridge Avenue from Low Density Residential to Commercial, second by Councilwoman Lichter . The MOTION CARRIED 4-0 . st D.1 Reading, Ord. No. 2006-O-24, Dana and Marcia Cornelius requesting an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map to change 0.38+ acres of property located south of 114 Oak Ridge Avenue from High Density Residential and Commercial to Low Density Residential Assistant City Attorney Palmer read Ord. 2006-O-24 into the record. Mr. Lear made a staff presentation. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Thomas opened and closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve Ord. 2006-O-24, Dana and Marcia Cornelius requesting an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map to change 0.38+ acres of property located south of 114 Oak Ridge Avenue from High Density Residential and Commercial to Low Density Residential, second by Councilwoman Rhodes . The MOTION CARRIED 4-0 . st E.1 Reading, Ord. No. 2006-O-21, Janice Shore requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to include 1.0+ acres of property located at 1008 Flying M Court as RT (Rural Transitional) Assistant City Attorney Palmer read Ord. 2006-O-21 into the record. Mr. Lear 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-21, Janice Shore requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to include 1.0+ acres of property located at 1008 Flying M Page 20 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 Court as RT (Rural Transitional), second by Councilman Vincenzi . The MOTION CARRIED 4-0 . st F.1 Reading, Ord. No. 2006-O-23, Stephen and Jill Hole requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to change 0.17 + acres of property located east of 114 Oak Ridge Avenue from R-3 (Single Family Residential) to B-3 (Highway Commercial) Assistant City Attorney Palmer read Ord. 2006-O-23 into the record. Mr. Lear made a staff presentation. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Thomas opened and closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve Ord. 2006-O-23, Stephen and Jill Hole requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to change 0.17+ acres of property located east of 114 Oak Ridge Avenue from R-3 (Single Family Residential) to B-3 (Highway Commercial), second by Councilwoman Rhodes . The MOTION CARRIED 4-0 . st Reading, Ord. No. 2006-O-25, Dana and Marcia G.1 Cornelius requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to change 0.38+ acres of property located south of 114 Oak Ridge Avenue from R-5 (Multi-Family Residential) and B-3 (Highway Commercial) to R-3 (Single-Family Residential) Assistant City Attorney Palmer read Ord. 2006-O-25 into the record. Mr. Lear 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-25, Dana and Marcia Cornelius requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to change 0.38+ acres of property Page 21 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 located south of 114 Oak Ridge Avenue from R-5 (Multi- Family Residential) and B-3 (Highway Commercial) to R-3 (Single-Family Residential), second by Councilwoman Lichter . The MOTION CARRIED 4-0 . st H.1 Reading, Ord. No. 2006-O-26, amending Chapter 11 (Occupational Licenses, Taxes and Regulations) of Article I (General) by amending Sections 11-7 (Administrative Fees, Application Fees and Inspection Fees) and 11-8 (License Tax Schedule) of the Code of Ordinances Assistant City Attorney Palmer read Ord. 2006-O-26 into the record. Mr. Lear made a staff presentation. Councilwoman Lichter asked Mr. Wadsworth if there is something wrong with the sprinkling system or reclaimed water or water meters if there is a charge for that. Mr. Wadsworth informed her if it is the first time no. They don’t charge to go out and verify. Councilwoman Rhodes stated in this City they are trying to promote economic development. In order to take the tax burden off of the residential we need for commercial and industrial businesses. The cost of doing business has sky rocketed. It is her intention to vote no on this because she thinks they should cut them a break for another year. Councilwoman Lichter stated all of these do not have to do with people doing business. She felt such emotion might be proper if it were certain ones that involved business. She was informed they are all occupational licenses and have to do with business. She mentioned it being a general sweep and some being high and some being low. She felt this was a tough one but felt it probably had to be done if they are going to meet the tax needs, the request that people are asking for services in this community and the list of things that still need to be done to make it attractive community for growth. She would probably vote yes. Councilman Vincenzi asked the biggest increase that is on the list. Mr. Lear informed him of the highest being $10 with the lowest being $1 or $1.50. Councilman Vincenzi Page 22 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 felt it interesting they take the highest one and increase it $10 per year which works out to less than $1 per month and $.25 per week and that is too high an increase but they talk about a couple of dollars a week for residential increased on taxes and it is acceptable. Councilwoman Rhodes stated no it is not. Councilman Vincenzi stated he isn’t voting for the tax increase either but he is voting for this. He feels this is a really minimal cost. Councilwoman Rhodes stated it was his right and it is a minimal cost except for most of the businesses in this town are small businesses. They aren’t large except for Boston Whaler. Every dollar counts. Councilman Vincenzi stated the biggest increase on that list is $10 per year. Councilwoman Rhodes stated it doesn’t matter. Every dollar counts. They are paying more for gas and more for this and what they do is pass it on to the consumer so you are going to pay in taxes and you are going to pay more for this too. Councilwoman Lichter stated half of the items they don’t have in the City. Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve Ord. 2006-O-26, amending Chapter 11 (Occupational Licenses, Taxes and Regulations) of Article I (General) by amending Sections 11-7 (Administrative Fees, Application Fees and Inspection Fees) and 11-8 (License Tax Schedule) of the Code of Ordinances, second by Councilman Vincenzi . The MOTION CARRIED 3-1. Councilwoman Rhodes voted NO . Councilman Vincenzi mentioned the caveat at the bottom that states it has to be majority plus one. Assistant City Attorney Palmer confirmed that would be three plus one. Councilman Vincenzi questioned this not passing. Assistant City Attorney Palmer confirmed the first reading of the ordinance passed but that it would need a positive vote of a majority plus one at second reading to become effective. Councilman Vincenzi questioned it coming back for a second reading. Assistant City Attorney Palmer informed him that was correct. 7.BOARD APPOINTMENTS There were no Board Appointments at this time. 8. CONSENT AGENDA Page 23 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 A.Sludge Disposal – staff recommending approval of a CPI adjustment for the H & H Liquid Sludge Disposal, Inc. Agreement at a 9.6% increase (from $244.59 to $268.07 per load) based on the May 2006 CPI for Transportation in the South Region, and to have an effective date of July 2006 Councilwoman Rhodes moved to approve the Consent Agenda, second by Councilman Vincenzi . The MOTION CARRIED 4-0. 9. OTHER BUSINESS Agreement Renewal – staff recommending renewal of A. Agreement between Florida’s Coast-to-Coast Chapter of the American Red Cross and the City of Edgewater concerning the use of the YMCA facility as a mass care shelter and authorize the Mayor to execute the Agreement Fire Chief Tracey Barlow made a staff presentation. There was a brief discussion regarding not being able to use the YMCA during hurricanes due to it being in a flood zone and the structure not being constructed to handle hurricane force winds but that it was used during the wildfires. Fire Chief Barlow spoke of it being used in the past as a last ditch shelter in case a storm direction changes at the last minute and they can’t evacuate people it is certainly safer than some of our mobile home parks. Councilwoman Lichter questioned having an arrangement with the schools if the children had to leave the schools they could go there to be picked up. Fire Chief Barlow stated Edgewater Elementary also has an agreement that if they have to lockdown or evacuate the school, they will relocate the children there and the parents can pick them up there. He further spoke of using it during the recent fires. Councilwoman Rhodes moved to approve renewal of the Agreement between Florida’s Coast-to-Coast Chapter of the American Red Cross and the City of Edgewater concerning the use of the YMCA facility as a mass care shelter and authorize the Mayor to execute the Agreement, second by Councilman Vincenzi . Page 24 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 The MOTION CARRIED 4-0 . B.Setting of Millage Rate – staff recommending approval to advertise the millage for fiscal year 2007 at 6.45 Interim Finance Director Brett Tanner made a staff presentation. Interim City Manager Williams informed Council this is just one process in setting the millage rate. This is not the final process. The theory here being that the millage rate be set at 6.45. They can always come back down. Once the trim advertisements are delivered if for some reason they set the millage at a lower rate, they can not come back up. The final two budget hearings are scheduled for September thth 11 and September 25. That is when final adoption of the millage rate and adoption of the budget will be set and hopefully they will have had some very good information provided to them at that point in time which may warrant a reduction of that millage rate at that point in time. This is just a conservative measure to at least be in compliance with the guidelines stipulated by the Florida Department of Revenue. Mayor Thomas entertained a motion. Councilwoman Lichter stated she had a question. Mayor Thomas informed her Councilwoman Rhodes said they couldn’t discuss it. Councilwoman Rhodes informed him she was talking about the Consent Agenda. Councilwoman Lichter asked when they would receive the finished project on the pension plan. Interim City Manager Williams informed her the timeline that has been nd established is on August 2 the consulting group will provide a list of attorneys and actuaries for the board to make a recommendation to the Council to enter into an agreement to provide the actuarial review and look at unbundling the services. He further commented on what he meant by unbundling. He spoke of looking at the actuarial assumptions and different methods that could be used and they are looking at those assumptions and trying to determine an appropriate assumption to achieve some cost savings without extending this out. They are trying to Page 25 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 find a balance and funding method to achieve some cost savings. They hope that information will be back by st October 1. Councilwoman Rhodes stated they need it back th by September 25. Interim City Manager Williams informed her that was correct. That is their goal. Councilwoman Lichter stated the problem she has with going down at the moment is that we still have this total unknown of the gasoline situation. She mentioned the Capital projects that were taken out of the budget including any repaving and some of those roads are bad. Interim City Manager Williams informed her they would be evaluating that list based off of what is approved out of the budget cycle and the current condition of the roadways. Their plans for the capital projects that have been proposed for the General Fund is they will shift all those major purchases to the third quarter of the fiscal year that way it will provide an ample amount of time for us to look for grant opportunities. If they haven’t been able to find those opportunities by the time the third quarter comes, they will have to expense the money to satisfy our capital needs. They are going to do the due diligence that they can. Councilwoman Rhodes questioned waiting until the third quarter to resurface. Interim City Manager Williams stated not necessarily, not for resurfacing, for those items they have identified for grant opportunities. Councilwoman Lichter questioned if the money they have to put into the Industrial Park is considered a capital item. Interim City Manager Williams explained they have identified there are some contractual obligations there at 6.45. They have planned for some debt issuance to satisfy those contractual obligations. They have also identified the vehicle purchases. The priority list they established during the budget workshop in setting the millage rate at 6.45 is staff’s recommendation currently. Councilwoman Rhodes asked if Travelers Palm Drive had been resurfaced this year. Mr. Wadsworth informed her they hadn’t done any resurfacing to date this year. Interim City Manager Williams stated they are establishing the priority list right now and they are getting ready to expense those funds prior to the expenditure cut off date. Page 26 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 Mayor Thomas confirmed that Interim City Manager Williams had several meetings with Councilwoman Rogers, Councilman Vincenzi as well as himself to try to shave every bit of the budget as well as several meetings with staff to shave every bit of the budget. What they are trying to do is go for the highest and then if they can shave it, they are going to. Interim City Manager Williams informed him that was correct. The theory here is this is the proposed millage rate. They communicate that back to the Property Appraiser’s office. They will send out the TRIM notices and the residents will receive those identifying this as the proposed tax rate. During the two budget hearings they have identified in September, they can lower the millage rate for final adoption of the millage rate and budget. One additional item they are looking at sending out in conjunction this year with the setting of the final two public hearings is a facts sheet on property taxes that they are developing internally. They are getting cost estimates to provide that. They will provide Council with a sample of what that will look like. The theory there is to send out an additional mailing that specifically relates to Edgewater and Edgewater’s taxes. Provide some history and education information and time that for the first hearing to take place for those residents that may want to come and participate. Councilwoman Lichter asked if all of the FEMA money has come in. Interim City Manager Williams informed her no. That is part of the proposed priority list they described during the budget workshop. Councilwoman Lichter mentioned having to put a certain amount of money into the reserve fund and that wasn’t even on the top of the list. Interim City Manager Williams stated priority is placed on reestablishing the reserve fund. Councilwoman Lichter stated as a taxpayer she also would like to take it down but she is going to vote to try and wait until September th 25, which is the last date it could be changed. Councilwoman Rhodes stated the FEMA money coming in is only for the Shuffleboard Courts and can’t be used for anything else. Councilman Vincenzi stated there are a lot of reasons to keep it where it is but there are also a lot of reasons to lower it. He stated Councilwoman Rogers pointed out one very good reason being because of the millage being raised a number of years ago one mill to compensate for the Page 27 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 pension funds. The next year the pension funds recovered and that money was not needed and it was not taken back. The millage was not reduced. Councilwoman Rhodes stated we had hurricanes. Councilman Vincenzi stated we had hurricanes but a lot of that money was reimbursed. The reserves are recovering but are not recovered yet but they are getting there. He asked how much the reserve shortage was. Interim City Manager Williams informed him they are estimating at $274,000. Councilman Vincenzi confirmed that is what is left to bring the reserves up to what the Charter recommends as a minimum. Interim City Manager Williams stated based off the FY2006 budget. Councilman Vincenzi then commented on a 35% increase in tax revenue, which is about a $2 million increase in tax revenue. Interim City Manager Williams confirmed it was about $1.7 million. Councilman Vincenzi stated he doesn’t see that the City budget has gone up $2 million in a year. He doesn’t see the expenses there. He has seen the list of capital projects as well as the department budgets. He asked Interim Finance Director Tanner if he would be telling him something different. Mr. Tanner stated he was breaking it down by percentages. Total expenses increased from last year’s budget are 5.05% as of right now. Total revenue increased from last year’s budget is 5.53%. The .5% is a $274,000 fund balance. They are looking at a 5% increase in expenses and a 5.5% increase in revenue. Councilman Vincenzi stated they are talking about getting $2 million more in revenue than last year. The roll back rate should be about 4.9. Mr. Tanner informed him it was 4.9912. Councilman Vincenzi stated that would mean if we operated at the same level as last year the tax rate should be 4.9 mills. Interim City Manager Williams felt the point to consider was they are correct in saying they had a 34% increase in tax revenue but they had other areas where the revenues have shrunk by about $1 million. Councilman Vincenzi asked which fund that was. Interim City Manager Williams informed him the General Fund. That increase and decrease basically negate each other. Councilman Vincenzi stated he understands all that. He has seen all the transfers but he doesn’t agree with it and he isn’t going to agree with the 6.45 tax rate. He felt it should be dropped at least a half a mill. That is his opinion and he is sticking to it. Councilwoman Rhodes agreed. Page 28 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 Councilman Vincenzi didn’t see any reason to keep it at 6.45 mills. Councilwoman Rhodes stated her opinion is they have to do it at 6.45 mills now because if all the things don’t fall in place then you cut off your nose to spite your face. If you set it at 6.45 you can go down from there. Councilman Vincenzi stated 5.95 is still allowing the City $1.2 million more to spend. Councilwoman Rhodes stated cut out the whole capital budget and you are at 5.95. Councilman Vincenzi stated no you are less than that. Councilwoman Rhodes stated no you are not. If the 35% increase is $1.7 million, that capital budget was $1.7 million. Interim City Manager Williams stated he is going from memory but when they gave Council the budget during the final workshop they gave it to them at the proposed rate of 6.45. That gave the Council $1.7 million in excess revenues. It is Council’s pleasure if they decide to roll back and give it all back in the terms of a roll back. If they do that, there are no provisions in there for capital expenditures, that priority list. They took all the capital expenditures that were removed, identified a priority list and then brought that back to Council. It is still Council’s discretion but they are telling them very clearly that there is no provisions for cars, no contractual obligations, no Shuffleboard Court, no FEMA revenue, and no money available for computer purchases. Councilwoman Rhodes stated and there is no road resurfacing. Councilman Vincenzi asked if you take the $1.7 million what it would take the tax rate down to. Interim City Manager Williams informed him 5.95 but that would not give them any of the capital expenditures that were prioritized. Councilman Vincenzi stated the last time they were here it was clearly stated if you cut out a certain number of hundred thousand dollars it would drop it. Interim City Manager Williams stated he gave Council two charts, how they got to the $1.7 million. They took a little over $2 million worth of proposed expenditures out of there and they took the $2 million worth of non-allocated capital expenditures and developed a priority list and put them Page 29 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 back but the budget he gave to them that night that gave them $1.7 million was without any capital expenditures and without a reduction in millage rate. Councilman Vincenzi stated so you are telling me without those capital expenditures the City is running at the same level as it did last year. Interim City manager Williams stated he wasn’t telling him that. He was telling him without those capital expenditures they are only paying for debt service, operating and personnel costs. In the personnel and operating costs are increases associated with increases in doing business. They started with at 6.45 how much excess money would we have and that worked out to $1.7 million. They looked at what they took out of the budget to get to the $1.7 million and they added back what they thought were priorities and left the Council with a balance of about $369,000 of which $274,000 will be used to sure up the fund balance reserve based off the 15% minimum. Councilman Vincenzi commented on the $1.7 million for the capital projects equaling the amount of tax increase. So if you take that away we have the same money we had last year. Interim City Manager Williams stated he didn’t see the association based off the same. Councilwoman Rhodes stated it puts you at being able to run the City at a 5.95 millage rate. Councilman Vincenzi then stated without the $1.7 million they are collecting the same amount of revenue as last year. Interim City Manager Williams confirmed he was basically saying that excess money they could use for roll back. Councilman Vincenzi stated if you take the $1.7 million for capital projects out you still have the same amount of tax revenue as was used last year to run the City. Interim City Manager Williams stated assuming you adopted a roll back rate. Councilman Vincenzi stated forget the roll back and asked how much money they had last year to run the City. Interim City Manager Williams stated he thought it was a little over $13 million was what they proposed. Councilman Vincenzi asked how much it was this year with the capital improvements that were listed. Interim Finance Director Tanner informed him $14.9 million. Councilman Vincenzi stated so if you take that $1.7 million out how much do you have. Interim Finance Director Tanner informed Page 30 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 him $13.2 million. Councilman Vincenzi stated which is about what they had last year. Interim City Manager Williams informed him that was correct and stated in expenditures. Councilman Vincenzi stated to him the numbers aren’t adding up. Interim City Manager Williams explained they have increases in personnel costs that they have no choice but to implement those off of contractual and open negotiations. Councilman Vincenzi stated they need the same amount as last year. If you take those capital projects out, where is the increase? Interim City Manager Williams stated personnel costs. Councilman Vincenzi stated but you have the same amount as you had last year. Interim City Manager Williams explained if they were going to compare apples to apples they would have to go back to the $13 million last year and deduct the capital expenditures out of there and then compare it and they would see the cost and the increase in operating expenses. Councilman Vincenzi stated that was money they spent last year and asked how much it was. Interim City Manager Williams informed him he didn’t know off of the top of his head how much the capital expenditures were. Councilman Vincenzi stated there were other expenses in there like trying to replenish the reserve fund. Interim City Manager Williams stated there was about $400,000 that they proposed to increase fund balance. We were at 10.1% at the end of the fiscal year and they are striving to reach the Charter minimum of 15%. They estimated in June that we would be at 12%. If their estimations are accurate and the revenues come in the way that they predict we would have a shortfall of about $274,000 and that is what they are proposing they need to increase. Councilman Vincenzi stated hypothetically if we didn’t have a 35% increase in revenue, what would the City do? Interim City Manager Williams informed him there probably wouldn’t be any capital expenditures at all or they would have to raise the millage rate or they would have to look at cutting services. Councilwoman Rhodes stated you aren’t raising the millage rate but you are getting the capital projects. Councilman Vincenzi stated they can debate it all night but this is his opinion that things are not clear and he doesn’t feel it needs to stay at 6.45. He feels there is something not right. Page 31 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 Councilwoman Lichter feels the vote to have an attorney present at every meeting was extravagant. She feels there are some meetings, and this is a compromise because she felt they did pretty well in the past with the liaison they had with Paralegal Matusick to an attorney’s office, they should determine before the fact if there is going to be nothing controversial or nothing in a problem area, that they may not need the services of a lawyer. That is one area she feels they could come down. She feels Ms. Matusick has the capability as a Paralegal of looking over the agenda and determining which ones they need a lawyer at. She also mentioned a lawsuit regarding the towers that is on the books right now, which is costly for the City. She feels they will see a great increase this year in legal expenses. Councilman Vincenzi feels there are many areas that could be cut and many areas that could be debated. Interim City Manager Williams felt the point to consider was this is not the final say on the millage rate. All Council is doing is, part of the TRIM compliance that says they are going to communicate via the DR form 420 that the proposed millage rate, and it is proposed, is 6.45. They have two final hearings that the Council votes on. If they can reach a lower millage rate, they will certainly do that. He thinks that some considerations needs to be looked at very closely, such as what the economical picture looks like at this point. He spoke of describing the methodology they used in calculating our own gas consumption and whether or not that is even an appropriate assumption at this point in time. He spoke of if gas goes up to $4.00 per gallon and how that affects. He was looking for council direction on what they feel is an appropriate amount of contingency. They have gone back and shaved those numbers. They continue to shave those numbers and are continuing to evaluate them. They are almost at a point where they feel somewhat uncomfortable bringing a budget back to Council with any future reductions for the simple fact that they are making assumptions today on expenditures that won’t even begin to take place until st October 1, let alone run throughout the next year. He feels they have to have a fair amount of conservatism built into those numbers. They have identified after the first budget workshop an increase of no more than 5% in operating and described to the departments that if they couldn’t reach that five percent they need to describe why. He Page 32 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 thinks they would all hate to get to a point where they run out of fuel to run a Fire Truck or Police Car because they haven’t appropriately made representations. That is a wild thought and that wouldn’t take place but just a point of discussion and consideration in thinking about the proposals they are asking Council to consider tonight. Mayor Thomas stated if they set it lower they couldn’t go up. He feels they need to set it at this and they have two months to work on shaving it. Councilwoman Rhodes stated before she served on the Council the millage rate was 6.44. Now it’s 6.45. The City as actually managed to increase to grow just based upon added value of property. Now it has gone down and gone back up over those years depending on what happened at the time and what was needed. They all pay taxes. She didn’t think there was one person on the Council that wanted the taxes to be an iota higher than it has to be and they will do everything they can to do it. The budget that Interim City Manager Williams gave to them all the numbers made sense to her. She suggested Councilman Vincenzi talk to Interim City Manager Williams some more to get a handle on why things are what they are. Councilman Vincenzi stated he would. Councilwoman Rhodes stated if Councilman Vincenzi wanted to cut out the capital budget to lower the millage rate, he could certainly make that motion and try to do that. Councilman Vincenzi stated that is one possibility but he thinks there are other areas too. Councilwoman Rhodes stated they are doing everything they can and she doesn’t feel anybody wants to pay one penny more than they have to. Mayor Thomas opened the public hearing. The following citizens spoke: Mike Visconti , 316 Pine Breeze Drive, asked what the present millage rate was. Interim City Manager Williams informed him 6.45. Mr. Visconti quoted from an article in the newspaper in the past week – City Council split on millage rate. Mr. Visconti stated why cut taxes. The media has stated that a house valued at $125,000 would pay $806 per year, or Page 33 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 $15.50 per week or $2.20 per day. With these figures, he would vote not to cut the taxes. The City could use the reserve for future disasters. He spoke of building and maintaining infrastructure and City parks and the like. To support industrial and commercial growth in order to enhance our tax base we are going to need funds to keep the infrastructure abreast of all new facilities. Mr. Visconti then commented on the reserve funds. According to the news, our City is short $274,000 then what is required. He asked how they could cut taxes. We are in dire need of a new City Hall and a better Police Department. Mr. Visconti expressed his support for what he feels is a very fair rate. He would not support raising the taxes. Dominic Capria , 606 Topside Circle, stated as he understood the City was supposed to get quite a few dollars back on the dredging material. Mayor Thomas stated he was told that too. Mr. Capria asked what happened. Councilwoman Rhodes stated FIND told us they would do it and then they reneged. Councilwoman Lichter stated they sold it to the County. Mr. Capria stated we have an attorney and questioned if we could sue them. Interim City Manager Williams informed Council they were going to try and get FIND to describe in writing to us what their intentions are with the dredging material. They have not been successful to date. Mr. Capria stated every dollar counts. He asked about the $350,000 contractual for 15 years for ParkTowne. He asked if we have checked with the attorney to see if we can do anything about that contract. Assistant City Attorney Palmer stated he hadn’t looked at the contract and would have to in order to give an answer. Mr. Capria felt the millage rate should go down to 5.95. Mr. Capria asked about the 35% increase in taxes bringing in $2 million more. Last year, the increase in taxes came in after the fact. There was $72,000 plus that was not reported in. Let’s put that in now. Interim City Manager Williams informed him that money is factored in to the current operating budget and they are Page 34 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 hoping that is a surplus. He further explained to Council what Mr. Capria was talking about. Mayor Thomas informed Mr. Capria his three minutes was up. Mr. Capria commented on the discussion using up some of his time. Mayor Thomas suggested in the future he ask his questions and they will answer them on their time. Mr. Capria asked for a half a minute. Mayor Thomas told him to go ahead. Mr. Capria then asked about the 5.6% increase in salaries. He isn’t against salary increases. He asked about 5% and asked what the difference is between 5% and 5.6%. Mr. Capria asked about FEMA and the shuffleboard courts and he is of the opinion that we got a lot more money from FEMA than we are saying. Councilwoman Rhodes stated they did not pay us everything they promised. Mr. Capria then asked how much the City got? Mayor Thomas closed the public hearing and entertained a motion. Councilwoman Rhodes made a motion to advertise the millage rate for FY07 at 6.45, second by Councilwoman Lichter . The MOTION CARRIED 3-1. Councilman Vincenzi voted NO . Tree Removal Permit – William Quirk, 803 S. C. Flagler Avenue, requesting a Tree Permit to remove one (1) 40-inch historic live oak tree from his property Development Services Director Lear made a staff presentation. There was a brief discussion regarding the options listed in the Code with regard to replacement of trees, payment into the tree fund or a combination of both. Councilman Vincenzi said because the tree is getting ready to damage his house he would lean more toward letting him take it down without having to pay the fee. Mr. Lear informed him they have the option of waiving all the fees. Page 35 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 There was a brief discussion regarding the root structure of the tree going under his house. Councilman Vincenzi made a motion that they allow the 40” historic live oak at 803 S. Flagler Avenue to be removed and waive any fees involved with the historic tree permitting regulations, second by Councilwoman Lichter. The MOTION CARRIED 4-0 . 10. OFFICER REPORTS a. City Clerk Wadsworth had nothing at this time. b. Assistant City Attorney Palmer had nothing at this time. c. Interim City Manager Williams had nothing at this time. 11. CITIZEN COMMENTS/CORRESPONDENCE The following citizen spoke: Mayor Thomas apologized to Ms. Carlson for cutting her off earlier. Dot Carlson , 1714 Edgewater Drive, representing ECARD, stated today, by fax, she received a letter from Ann McFall, Supervisor of Elections, notifying them that she does hereby certify that 1,968 total signatures were verified for the City of Edgewater Charter Amendment to prohibit building heights exceeding 35 feet. Of those 1,554 signatures were verified as registered electors in the City of Edgewater in Volusia County. The letter was sent to the City on July 18, 2006 so this should not come as a surprise. She is under the impression this is the right amount of signatures that she needs of signatures. She believed she had more than 10% of the electoral and they can put this on the ballot. Assistant City Attorney Palmer informed the Council City Clerk Wadsworth did receive the letter from ECARD as well as the letter from the Supervisor of Elections. They are looking at it now and working with City Clerk Wadsworth and the Supervisor of Elections. The latest correspondence he saw from the Supervisor of Elections would indicate that Page 36 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006 the 1,500 verified signatures would meet the 10% threshold requirement. They are still looking at it to see exactly the procedures that need to be followed to have that placed on the ballot for the next General Election. Councilwoman Lichter questioned if they had received the letter. Assistant City Attorney Palmer confirmed City Clerk Wadsworth had received the certification from the Supervisor of Elections as well as from ECARD but has not received the full stack of original signed petitions, which had been submitted to the Supervisor of Elections. Mr. Carlson stated Ann McFall has those and she has th certified them as of the 18. Ms. Carlson asked that somebody let her know. She got started on this because she got ignored and if she gets ignored again she could get angrier. Mayor Thomas asked Mr. Carlson to explain what it is for. Mr. Carlson informed him this is for a 35-foot height limit on residential buildings in the City of Edgewater in the future. This will go on the ballot so the people of Edgewater can elect whether they want 35 or they don’t want 35. Mayor Thomas confirmed this would change the City Charter. Ms. Carlson informed him it would be a City Charter amendment. 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, Mayor Thomas adjourned the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 9:37 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Lisa Bloomer Page 37 of 37 Council Regular Meeting July 24, 2006