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02-05-2007 - Regular CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER REGULAR MEETING FEBRUARY 5, 2007 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 Arrived at 8:24 p.m. Councilwoman Harriet Rhodes Present Councilwoman Judith Lichter Present City Manager Jon Williams Present City Attorney Michael Ciocchetti 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 A. Special Meeting of September 11, 2006 Councilwoman Rhodes moved to approve the minutes for the Special Meeting of September 11, 2006 minutes, second by Councilwoman Lichter . The MOTION CARRIED 4-0 . B. Regular Meeting of September 11, 2006 Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve the minutes for the Regular Meeting of September 11, 2006, second by Councilwoman Rogers . The MOTION CARRIED 4-0 . Page 1 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 C. Regular Meeting of September 25, 2006 Councilwoman Rogers moved to approve the September 25, 2006 minutes, second by Councilwoman Rhodes . The MOTION CARRIED 4-0 . 3. PRESENTATIONS/PROCLAMATIONS/PLAQUES/CERTIFICATES/DON ATIONS A. Chief Taves presenting a plaque to Officer Brian Mallard for “Officer of the Quarter” Police Chief Taves commented on what Officer Mallard had done to be recognized as “Officer of the Quarter” and presented him with a plaque. B. Mayor Thomas presenting a Certificate of Appreciation from the City of Daytona Beach to the Edgewater Fire Department for assisting their th city in the aftermath of December 25’s tornado Mayor Thomas read the Certificate of Appreciation from the City of Daytona Beach and presented it to Fire Chief Barlow. Mayor Thomas stated he had two more presentations and asked Councilwoman Rhodes, Councilwoman Lichter, Councilwoman Rogers, Fire Chief Tracey Barlow, Police Chief John Taves, Assistant City Manager Liz McBride and any other staff that was on board when this happened to come forward. He stated the Volusia League of Cities nominated Edgewater for communities coming together. He commented on Port Orange, New Smyrna and Edgewater starting the Regional Communications Center. He spoke of winning the Golden Eagle Award. He was very proud to accept that. He and Councilwoman Lichter were there. This was done before his time and he was very proud to accept the award. He feels they need to give credit where credit is due, to the City Council and staff that were on board. Mayor Thomas commented on an idea that City Clerk Wadsworth had to save time and money. City Clerk Wadsworth commented on all of the Department Heads attending the Council meetings to answer questions in case the citizens have a question during Citizen Comments. Page 2 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 They will still be required to come to the meeting if they have something on the agenda but she suggested if one of the citizens has a question that would be directed to one of the Department Heads, they should come to her and provide their name and phone number and she would give the citizen the business card of the Department Head that would be getting a hold of them. They would be asked if they didn’t get any response back within 48 hours that they contact her and she will follow up. Mayor Thomas felt just to have the Department Heads there for a blank purpose where they sit three hours through a meeting and then they have to give them comp time. He felt it was a very good idea that would save them time and money in the long run. 4. CITIZEN COMMENTS The following citizens spoke: Dominic Capria , 606 Topside Circle, asked where they stand with the Shuffleboard Courts. He stated there was a gentleman there who had requested splitting of his land and they promised him it would be on today’s agenda. He asked where they stand. Councilwoman Rhodes informed him he was on the agenda. Mr. Capria then asked about the Shuffleboard Courts. City Clerk Wadsworth informed him she would take his name and have Leisure Services Director Jack Corder get in touch with him tomorrow to let him know the status of that. Mr. Capria informed her he wanted to hear so everybody could hear it. Councilwoman Rhodes stated they haven’t completed that yet. Mike Visconti , 316 Pine Breeze Drive, read a prepared th statement. In reading the paper of February 5, the City th seeks a 20/20 vision it was in the Observer on January 27. The problem the City must address. Capital improvements, replacing aging vehicles and equipment, the new animal shelter not to mention a new City Hall, Police Station and other needs. According to Marilyn Crotty, nothing gets done without funds. Councilwoman Rhodes would like to see a decrease in taxes. They need to lower the taxes and maintain the same service. He asked without a tax base, with no commercial or industrial buildings being built and Page 3 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 no large development being started it means no money coming in. How do they lower taxes and maintain the same service. It has been over three years since they accepted Edgewater Harbor and at this point nothing is being done and there is no money is coming in. They have embraced the 35-foot height restriction. Somehow the first agenda must be to find a way and change the language to read building not to exceed 50 feet. This will help the developer to go to 37, 40 or 50 feet and 35 feet and over 50 feet is a special case. To lower taxes it takes the burden off of the property owners. They must entice people to build in our industrial and commercial zoned areas and bring good paying jobs to Edgewater. The Mayor at the last meeting said he would not entice anyone to come to Edgewater. Let them go to Orlando or elsewhere. Why not have them here instead of have them travel 60 miles one way, 120 miles a day, or 600 miles a week. The Council, Mayor and City Manager have many tough decisions to make. They must put the 35-foot height restriction amendment before the voters again. They must make them understand what it means to the future of Edgewater and find a location for City Hall, the library expansion and many others. He wished them success. He congratulated the council for the achievement they just had. Mr. Visconti commented on the building boom in Deland. In order to have a building boom, they have to make some changes. Pat Card , 3019 Willow Oak Drive, addressed a question regarding a quotation in the paper regarding frivolous benefits as they referred to our Police Department’s policy on illness and the manner in which sick days are compensated for. He believes they have to be careful with the pennies but you don’t want to be penny wise and pound foolish. If they are in a situation where they encourage people to use their sick days and if you don’t pay them for them if they lose them they will encourage them to use them. What they will find is they will be paying overtime and they will be finding that their Chief’s are having difficulty scheduling their people because the absenteeism among the people will rise. It is as simple as that. In almost every case paying for unused sick leave is a cost effective method of dealing with employees and their absences. He hoped Council wouldn’t consider changing the policy. If they do, he thinks they will find that they will be spending about the same amount of money because Page 4 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 they will end up paying it for people who should otherwise be off duty. Leo Towsley , 2828 Unity Tree Drive, stated he was there about the dog pound again. He is still against it. They were talking about having a vet run the place and he was wondering if the $1.5 million was coming out of the taxpayers pocket. Mr. Towsley stated the land deal that they said is coming out of that that the City already owns that they want to pay again for the dog pound for the land that the City that they have already paid for for the wastewater treatment pump station to have down there. Is that legal? He asked if they have talked to a lawyer about that. Councilwoman Rhodes stated that land was originally purchased for the water department. That land wasn’t purchased in anyway at that time for the animal shelter. The original intent was the animal shelter was going to go out where the landfill used to be but it was found that it could not go out there because it is sinking. Mr. Towsley asked about the land being the City dog pound as far as the building. Councilwoman Lichter stated there is a temporary animal shelter there now. Mr. Towsley commented on when it went before the voters it was to be run and maintained by donations and volunteers. Councilwoman Lichter informed him it is being run by those now. Mr. Towsley commented on the firing of Ms. Wade- Carotenuto right after the election and asked what would happen with the new building going up or are they looking for someone else now to run it. Councilwoman Lichter informed him she believed City Manager Williams had that on the agenda for a couple of meetings from now. She informed Mr. Towsley he got the wrong idea of what the vet was about. It was about a vet taking over the building like the YMCA. Not the City paying the vet. Mr. Towsley asked how it would reflect on the taxpayers when the vet takes over. Councilwoman Rhodes informed him they weren’t going to pay the vet. Councilwoman Lichter informed him it would save them money. Page 5 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 5. CITY COUNCIL REPORTS Councilwoman Rhodes had nothing at this time. Councilwoman Lichter stated Friday night City Manager Williams, Mayor Thomas and herself attended a Concurrency Education meeting. She thought it had to do with growth. What it had to with is the requirement from the State that every school in Volusia County get equal services and equal treatment. That the County get divided into different geographical areas so this can be checked. Edgewater, New Smyrna and Port Orange and possibly Osteen might be one of those areas. This plan needs three parts to it. Right now the Board of Education is working on what they want in it. A firm has already been hired from Orlando. She commented on it not being the easiest discussion to understand some of what he was saying. This City and all the other cities have to come up and adopt Comprehensive Plan Amendments by September 30, 2007. Before that, not only the Board of Education but the County will have adopted other things. She feels the State wants to make sure that all schools in any county are being treated equally. She further presented examples of the types of things they are looking at. She commented on home-schooled children and Charter schools being included in this. Their part is going to follow a year after the other two parts. She didn’t think they would have any trouble abiding by it. Mayor Thomas stated it was an educational process for the cities to learn under Senate Bill 360, we are mandated to update our Comprehensive Plan for certain guidelines with a school concurrency. There are a bunch of dates they have to fulfill their obligation to. It was a learning process. The State is making sure each child is educated in the same way, the same fashion and that no schools are bigger or smaller and that there are a certain number of children in the classrooms. Councilwoman Rogers commented on a program being put on by MyRegion.org. You can go to the website and look up information regarding how shall we grow. These are wonderful studies that have been presented that the public can review. She has been reviewing them and she is finding them very informative. Discussing green space, transportation and how we should grow. This is a resource for the Council and the public. Page 6 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 Councilwoman Rogers then commented on the strategic planning workshop they attended a week ago that was recently in the paper. There were two tiers that the facilitator put together with the priorities they established. If you look at the first tier and really take it to heart, they are going to realize it is going to be pretty near impossible in the next fifteen years to touch anything in the second tier. The first tier is City Hall. That was one of the three priorities. The second item in the first tier is transportation. The third item in the first tier has to do with replacement of infrastructure. The animal shelter is clearly in the second tier. They have been talking about it and they have been reading a little bit about it in the newspaper regarding the proposed $1.5 million that a veterinarian said it would cost for an addition, in addition to the $500,000 that the citizens have already voted for. They will be revisiting this. She presented a question to our previous City Attorney and she has asked the new City Attorney to review the same question and the three responses that were given to them. She didn’t feel at liberty to tell them everything at this moment regarding the animal shelter. The three options that were given to them is that the items that are going to cost more. 1. They as City Council can vote to have funds spent on additional items or 2. They can have this go back to the voters or 3. They could can it. Stay tuned. Councilwoman Rogers wanted the Fire Chief and Police Chief to address this when they are done. They have been receiving calls from some concerned citizens regarding positions, the status of positions and if any positions have been frozen. Some citizens are concerned that they aren’t spending their funds correctly. After they are done, she asked if they could each give them a little status regarding positions that are open, what they are doing to fill those positions and the status if there is a freeze. Councilwoman Rogers then commented on the 35-foot height limit. They have been getting a lot of flack regarding the 35-foot height and the supposed business loss they are going to have in the City. She wondered if they even have a directory of the City businesses within the City of Edgewater that just lists the City of Edgewater, not New Smyrna. She also wondered if the developers that are coming into the City are aware of the various resources we have in the City. Contractors, electricians, plumbers, Page 7 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 drywall hangers, etc. She has received calls from some people very concerned because the developments that have been approved that are not yet going forward. They had thought would have happened by now so these people wouldn’t have to travel to Orlando to get to their jobs. She drove a couple hundred miles last week and a hundred and fifty today driving to Orlando. There are a lot of local people that are having these same kinds of issues. She feels it would be something the Economic Development Board could assist them with. If not, then she will start it and that is a directory of the businesses we have within the City, whether they have a separate commercial facility or they are residentially operated out of someone’s home. She feels it would be a good resource to put together a directory and try to keep the money in the City and keep people closer to home. That is what they are trying to do anyways. These big developers coming in talking about smart growth. It sounds like they are going to do it in the new places but what about the existing developments. She is sure they would rather just drive within the domains of the City to do business. 6. CONSENT AGENDA There were no items to be discussed on the Consent Agenda at this time. 7. PUBLIC HEARINGS, ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS A. Public Hearing, Jim Girvan, No Name Saloon, 2001 S. Ridgewood Avenue, requesting a Special Activity permit for Bike Week 2007 events with outdoor music to be held March 2 through March 10, 2007 Development Services Director Darren Lear made a staff presentation. Councilwoman Lichter thanked Mr. Lear for the thorough package that was presented to Council. Mayor Thomas stated when he first came all he heard about was Bike Week and the No Name. Since he has been here Mr. Girvan has acted very politely. He has been there lots of times during Bike Week and he plans to go lots more to observe the activity to see what is going on. Page 8 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 Jim Girvan stated there shouldn’t be any problems. They are going to have the same parking as well as additional parking in the rear. They are shrinking it up again with the vendors going halfway down the field. Mayor Thomas asked Mr. Girvan if he got permission from Mr. McAllister. Mr. Girvan informed him they had. Mr. Girvan stated security is going to be their main emphasis. They are going to have fourteen to eighteen security. Mayor Thomas commented on last Bike Week and people parking too close to the U.S. #1 right-of-way and he thought Mr. Girvan allocated some people to take care of that. Mr. Girvan stated they would have a lot of people on parking this year and this will probably be their last Bike Week. Mr. Girvan informed him they had a new owner, Mike Horber, and he would be taking over for Bike Week this year and they would be staying on to assist with Bike Week. He feels Mr. Horber will be a great asset. He is all about business. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Thomas opened and closed the public hearing and entertained a motion. Councilwoman Rhodes moved to approve the Special Activity permit for Bike Week 2007 events with outdoor music to be held March 2 through March 10, 2007 for the No Name Saloon, second by Councilwoman Rogers . The MOTION CARRIED 4-0 . B. Public Hearing, Richard Stonecipher, Earthquake Magoon’s, 132 W. Park Avenue, requesting a Special Activity permit for an Annual Bike Week Oyster Roast to be held March 9, 2007 Development Services Director Lear made a staff presentation. Councilwoman Rhodes mentioned a gentleman in that complex that complained last year. Page 9 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 Richard Stonecipher informed her it was the gentleman next door to him and they don’t get along at all. They haven’t since day one. Mayor Thomas asked Mr. Stonecipher if they are hiring extra manpower and how many people he would be employing. Mr. Stonecipher informed him seven. He feels the police out front directing traffic drive customers away from him. Mayor Thomas asked Police Chief Taves if they have one man there all the time. Police Chief Taves informed him last year was the first time they have had anyone there. They put two officers down there last year and they didn’t have any problems at all. Councilwoman Lichter asked if they need two this year. Police Chief Taves informed her if she has asking him on past experience he would tell her no. Last year the officers came back and wanted to know why they were there. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Thomas opened and closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve the Special Activity permit for an Annual Bike Week Oyster Roast to be held March 9, 2007 for Earthquake Magoon’s, second by Councilwoman Rogers . The MOTION CARRIED 4-0 . st C.1 Reading. Ord. No. 2006-O-37, City of Edgewater, on behalf of Frank and Donna Morris, requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to include 10+ acres of land located north of Oak Trail, west of 2967 Oak Trail as RT (Rural Transitional) (rezoning) tabled on 11/6/06, Item 7J City Attorney Ciocchetti read Ord. 2006-O-37 into the record. Development Services Director made a staff presentation. Councilwoman Lichter questioned the gentleman wanting to do this because he doesn’t want it built on the lot he is dividing, he is wanting to preserve it? Mr. Lear informed her he was wanting to split the easterly five acre tract into two two and a half acre lots for him and a family Page 10 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 member. Councilwoman Lichter asked if there is any reason that has to be written into it. She sees nothing wrong with doing this but asked if that is a reason that safeguards it from something else that might happen, that he wants to keep it in the family. What is the difference if he gives it to the son or sells it to someone else. Mr. Lear confirmed he could do that. Councilwoman Lichter questioned it not being pertinent to their decision. Mr. Lear informed her all they are doing tonight is the rezoning request to get it compatible with the Comprehensive Plan. Councilwoman Lichter stated in Edgewater itself there is no problem if it is in their planning and the Comprehensive Plan to divide it. In the County it was different but the County said they weren’t going to make a written recommendation on it. Mr. Lear stated the County zoning designation, which he believed was A3, allows 2 ½ acre lots. The County’s issue with that was that they considered it to be in the flood plain per the USGS maps and they have a stipulation in their Code that 10,000 square feet of the lot has to be buildable area outside the 100-year flood plain. It was going to be the decision of the County to deny that request if it was still in the County however it is in the City and by City standards it meets all the Code requirements. Mayor Thomas stated it is extremely wet. Councilwoman Lichter was wondering if they should keep it one thing. She wished the gentleman was there. Councilwoman Rogers stated the neighbors were there and they could tell them about that land and the flooding and the water. Councilwoman Lichter stated the neighbors were against it if she remembered correctly. She was trying to think if there was a way to lock them in to not selling it. Mr. Lear stated he didn’t think they could do that legally. Mayor Thomas asked what his options would be if they didn’t approve this. City Attorney Ciocchetti stated he would file a legal challenge and say that the zoning needs to be changed to reflect the Comp Plan. Where the Comp Plan isn’t implemented then the Comp Plan would control. City Manager Williams stated there is no substantial reason for denial. This property was annexed in 1994. They have a Page 11 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 Comp Plan amendment and they are required by law to zone it according to the Comprehensive Plan. Councilwoman Rogers stated what about the fact that the County uses the USGS maps and the City uses the FEMA maps and it is in the Comp Plan that they are going to use the FEMA maps. She feels that is something they need to look at because the FEMA maps are not as updated as the USGS maps are and she is very familiar with this type of land and soil and she knows what the neighbors concerns are. Councilwoman Rhodes stated they have to use the FEMA maps for the flood insurance. Mr. Lear stated for the national flood insurance program. Councilwoman Lichter stated they could agree to this obviously if it is comes to build a house or building whatever. They aren’t going to get permits for that individually if it is Lake Erie. St. John’s will put the clamp on at that point. Mr. Lear stated they would be required to keep their water onsite. They aren’t allowed by State law to discharge any more water than what comes off their site presently. He felt it was important to point out that historically they can’t say these two lots are the only ones that were wet that have ever been flooded and they have the rest of Oak Trail built out. Councilwoman Rhodes asked about the flood maps. The County uses the USGS and we use FEMA so we can stay in the National Flood Insurance Program. She questioned the County not being in the National Flood Insurance Program. Mr. Lear wasn’t sure if they are using both maps or not. City Manager Williams stated it is their understanding that if they are using the NFIP that they would have to use the FEMA maps. He wasn’t aware of any rule that allows them to use the USGS maps in those regards. Councilwoman Rhodes stated so in other words if you live in the County you can not get National Flood Insurance. Mr. Lear stated they may be a participant but he wasn’t sure if they are using both types of maps. He didn’t know exactly what they use in the County. Councilwoman Rhodes stated but they wrote this letter. They said they utilized USGS flood maps. Mr. Lear stated he wasn’t sure if that is all they utilize but they utilize those as part of their review. Page 12 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 Councilwoman Rogers stated the letter came from Mr. Lear and because of this type of a conflict between City and County. Councilwoman Rhodes confirmed it was after he talked to the County. Mr. Lear informed her it was. Councilwoman Rogers feels they need to go back to the drawing board because there has to be something because there are people in the County that have FEMA insurance. Mr. Lear stated they may use that as another device to make it more strict. City Manager Williams stated he thought the issue was with what they are required to do with consistency to the Comp Plan. Councilwoman Rhodes understood that but agreed with Councilwoman Rogers that maybe the Comp Plan needs to be changed in this regard. Granted, at this point in time, they have to go by what they have. She is talking future. City Manager Williams stated they could look at that for future reference. Mayor Thomas opened the public hearing. The following citizens spoke: Cecil Seacrest , 2980 Oak Trail, made a Powerpoint presentation. He expressed the concerns of the neighbors being shell roads/private roads, flooding, the wetlands and noise. Pat Card , 3019 Willow Oak Drive, feels the real problem is that they don’t have a zoning that equals what the County’s zoning is. This isn’t the first time they have bumped up against this. They might want to consider adding a zoning that would allow them to have less houses on the property. Moving something close to what agricultural zoning is in the County. Right now they are hurt because of that. This is the lowest density they currently have in the zoning. He feels they need to look at changing the zoning and adding some larger zoning classifications. Elizabeth Bulholtz , 2970 Oak Trail, stated when she bought her property she disagreed with the gentleman that said they could have a house on 2 ½ acres. When she bought that property, she went to the county and they told her one house only on the five acres. Most of the other people on her street that is how their houses were. She didn’t understand this man. He is telling her they are going to keep two on the five acres and then he is giving it to her Page 13 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 grandson. What is going to happen when his grandson gets older and he says he is allowed to put a house on each acre. They are going to get piled in with all that dirt and the water will get pushed to all of the other places. She feels this isn’t fair. Jerry Fitch , 2967 Oak Trail, agreed with the people on the whole thing. He has a neighbor to the east of him that went to the County and he wanted to subdivide his into two and a half acres and they told him if he was to build today he would have to have ten acres to build a house there. He didn’t understand how they could put ten houses on ten acres if he had to have ten acres to build one house. He expressed concern with the road and the houses having to be built up three or four feet to make them usable which is going to push water onto everyone else. Councilwoman Rogers asked Mr. Lear if there is a house already on the other five. Mr. Lear informed her the property was vacant. Councilwoman Rogers stated if the City were to allow the man a permit on this, has the City ever dealt with giving someone a permit and putting a conservation easement over the part of it that is majority wetland. Mr. Lear stated there have been instances in the past where single-family lots have had to create their own retention areas. Councilwoman Rogers stated in other words the owner would not be able to build on the rest of it because they would have a signed conservation easement on it. Mr. Lear stated if they tried to put ten houses on ten acres with that amount of impact, that developer would have to pave Oak Trail from Air Park Road to their entrance. Councilwoman Rogers stated which create a severe problem because it would be a non-permeable surface and then they would have more flooding issues. Councilwoman Lichter stated when the conversation started she asked if there was anyway to grant his wish for dividing it in half and seeing if they can put limitations and stopping it there. She guessed Councilwoman Rogers was saying approximately the same thing. She could never see it being ten but if he wants to divide it in half that is a different story because there is another one that same size. She thought she was told that that couldn’t be done but now maybe by stating it a different way it can be done. That is what she would like to try to limit. Obviously they don’t want a development there of ten houses but there is a precedent for a lot that size being divided in half. Page 14 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 She thinks in that way they will comply with their zoning but they will put an intelligent limit on it because of the environmental circumstances, which would happen beyond the City anyway with St. John’s and others. Mr. Lear explained if they tried to split off any more lots than that they would have to go through the full-blown platting process. It’s just not economically feasible. Councilwoman Lichter commented on having to do something to comply or get sued again. She spoke of putting limitations on it that it could never be more than divided in half. She asked how they are going to do that. City Attorney Ciocchetti stated this evening if there will be anything short of a granting then the motion should be to table. The applicant is not here and he does have the opportunity to cross-examine witnesses and to present his case. This is a quasi-judicial hearing and he has allowed it to go forward just to hash out some of these issues and see if there would be an approval. His take on it is this is a situation where the zoning is being changed to reflect the Comprehensive Plan. As of now and based on the information he is receiving from City staff, the Comp Plan allows for this by right. He is applying for something that under the Comp Plan he has as a matter of right. Councilwoman Rhodes asked why they wouldn’t zone this City agriculture. Mr. Lear explained they would have to go back and amend his future land use, which is a long process. Councilwoman Lichter asked to handle this particular item tonight so they can move on and take the City Attorney’s advice. His advice was that they table it for the moment. City Attorney Ciocchetti stated his recommendation is to either grant it without exception, grant it as proposed or to table it with some level of direction for staff to research it further. Mayor Thomas pointed out where Coral Trace is, the ditch that was dug and where it runs to. He pointed out the center of the hammock where it is really wet. He feels the whole thing should have never been allowed. They talked about that in Smart Growth today and they as leaders have to have the guts to say no on some of this stuff. He knows they are legally obligated but if they don’t say no or if they table it and find another avenue but that is extremely Page 15 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 wet and if he is allowed to put dirt here and dig holes where is that water going to go. It is going to on these other people and they are going to build up. He feels they are just shuffling water around. Councilwoman Lichter feels if when they have the potential of a court case they are well to heed the advice of the City Attorney. Things they say up there now can be well used against them in court. The gentleman has to be present. She feels the best legal way to handle this is to table it. She hopes that would happen so he could explore those other ways. They all agree with the analysis of the water situation. City Attorney Ciocchetti stated either they grant it as requested and based on his review and the information he has received from staff, the applicant has the right under the Comprehensive Plan for one unit per acre. At least grant the request on first reading or table it if they are going to try find some exception there. He wasn’t aware of any exception. Councilwoman Rhodes asked him if he thought he could find one. City Attorney Ciocchetti stated there may be other grounds. Councilwoman Rhodes stated they could mitigate it for the future but they can’t stop it for right now. City Attorney Ciocchetti stated as far as the rezoning goes he wasn’t aware of anything to deny it based on the information he received from staff. Councilwoman Rogers stated he hasn’t reviewed it because he said they reviewed it and he is basing his decision based upon what staff has told him. If they move to table this, that would give City Attorney Ciocchetti the opportunity to do what he needs to do. Councilwoman Rhodes stated and the man should be there. City Attorney Ciocchetti stated and if anything short of what he requested in his application if anything short of that were to be granted, he would say table it. Dot Carlson , 1714 Edgewater Drive, stated if you have to alter that land and raise any of that land above the water table you should be in to aqua farming and not building Page 16 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 houses. She doesn’t see St. John’s permitting anything else on that land than what they have already got. Councilwoman Rogers informed Ms. Carlson that is from what she is seeing and from her heart but what they have to deal with is the comp Plan. That is what they are going to look at. Ms. Carlson feels this is going to be a good test case because what is going to be west of the interstate is going to be worse. Mayor Thomas closed the public hearing and entertained a motion. Councilwoman Lichter moved to table Ord. 2006-O-37 until th their next regular meeting, March 5 and that the gentleman involved be sent registered letter to attend, second by Councilwoman Rhodes . The MOTION CARRIED 4-0 . Mayor Thomas called a ten-minute recess at this time. The meeting recessed at 8:10 p.m. and reconvened at 8:25 p.m. After the break, City Clerk Wadsworth noted for the record that Councilman Vincenzi was present. nd D.2 Reading, Ord. No. 2006-O-35, Mark Karet, agent for Edgewater Airpark, LLC, requesting an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map to include .60+ acres of property located at 1840 Airpark Road as Commercial (small scale comprehensive plan amendment) City Attorney Ciocchetti read Ord. 2006-O-35 into the record. Development Services Director Lear made a staff presentation. He informed Council this item and the next item were dealing with the same piece of property. Mark Karet , Zev Cohen & Associates, 55 Seton Trail, Ormond Beach, thanked staff for their recommendation. They held a meeting with the neighbors. They have no objections from the Volusia Growth Management Commission. He would be happy to answer any questions. Page 17 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 Due to there being no comments, Mayor Thomas opened and closed the public hearing and entertained a motion. Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve Ord. 2006-O-35, Mark Karet, agent for Edgewater Airpark, LLC, requesting an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map to include .60+ acres of property located at 1840 Airpark Road as Commercial, second by Councilwoman Rogers . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . nd E.2 Reading, Ord. No. 2006-O-36, Mark Karet, agent for Edgewater Airpark, LLC, requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to include .60+ acres of property located at 1840 Airpark Road as B-3 (Highway Commercial) City Attorney Ciocchetti read Ord. 2006-O-36 into the record. Development Services Director Lear made a staff presentation. Due tot here being no comments, Mayor Thomas opened and closed the public hearing and entertained a motion. Councilwoman Rogers moved to approve Ord. 2006-O-36, Mark Karet, agent for Edgewater Airpark, LLC, requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to include .60+ acres of property located at 1840 Airpark Road as B-3 (Highway Commercial), second by Councilman Vincenzi . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . nd F.2 Reading, Ord. No. 2006-O-38, Tom Valley, agent for PC Capital, LLC, requesting an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map to include 3.67+ acres of land located east of Old County Road, north of Pearl Street as Medium Density Residential (small scale comprehensive plan amendment) cont. from 1/22/07, Item 7C City Attorney Ciocchetti read Ord. 2006-O-38 into the record. Page 18 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 Development Services Director Lear made a staff presentation. Glenn Storch , law firm of Storch, Morris & Harris, stated they have heard this project before. This is what he is hoping will be the first of several infill developments that will hopefully revitalize the downtown Edgewater area. He pointed out the strip of property they are looking at with the Comp Plan Amendment. Most of the area is presently Comp Planned for high density residential. This particular area will be medium density residential and there will be a small piece along the front, along U.S. #1, that will be medium density residential. This will allow for a coherent project for the entire thing that fits very well with what is there now. This will be built to much higher standards and they are working with staff on that. They will have a four-laned, heavily landscaped entrance. They will still have a vegetated buffer along the area of at least twenty-five feet. Mayor Thomas opened the public hearing. Councilman Vincenzi felt this was a good project and good use of that land. Mayor Thomas asked if they were able to make an entrance/exit on Old County Road to alleviate the traffic on U.S. #1. Attorney Storch stated U.S. #1 is a major entrance for the project. They do have emergency access points on Old County. He further commented on the major entrance being off of U.S. #1 and being heavily landscaped. There will be an emergency access point on Old County Road. They are concerned about putting additional traffic on that due to it being a dirt road. On U.S. #1 they are right at a median cut so it seemed appropriate to put most of the access there. Mayor Thomas asked how many people were going to be in there. Tom Valley , New Smyrna Beach, informed him 130 homes. They widened it to a four-lane entrance. He spoke of there being no level of service problems on U.S. #1 according to their engineer’s traffic report. Mayor Thomas asked how many cars they figured for 130 homes. Mr. Valley didn’t have the traffic study. He spoke Page 19 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 of townhomes generating less traffic than single-family homes because of the nature of the client. Mayor Thomas asked if there would be one or two emergency exits onto Old County. Mr. Valley informed him there would be two, two-lane emergency. He spoke of having paved aprons and gates that emergency services would have access to. Mayor Thomas asked if it would be gated off. Mr. Valley informed him it would be gated off in an emergency only. City Attorney Ciocchetti stated Tarmac entered a letter of objection into the record and he wanted to make sure everyone had that in their agenda packet. Attorney Storch stated he understands they are concerned because they have an industrial area near this area. He had no objection to stipulating to Council tonight that they intend on any of their marketing material letting people know there is an industrial area there, which they will use to their benefit. The following citizens spoke: Mike Visconti , 316 Pine Breeze Drive, asked what would happen with Pearl Street. Attorney Storch stated they have no access planned on Pearl Street so there will be no change. Mr. Visconti further commented on having a business on Pearl Street and U.S. #1. If the City could see ahead, he didn’t know if that road would be paved or not but it is an uphill climb part of the way then it goes down to Old County Road. Every time it rains it gets flooded out. He was wondering if the City could take a look at that and possibly take the hump out in the middle. Mayor Thomas asked who grades it. City Manager Williams confirmed the City provides the maintenance for that road. Mayor Thomas closed the public hearing and entertained a motion. Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve Ord. 2006-O-38, Tom Valley, agent for PC Capital, LLC, requesting an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map to include 3.67+ acres of land located east of Old County Road, north Page 20 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 of Pearl Street as Medium Density Residential, second by Councilwoman Rogers . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . nd G.2 Reading, Ord. No. 2006-O-39, Tom Valley, agent for PC Capital, LLC, requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to include 3.67+ acres of land located east of Old County Road, north of Pearl Street as R-4 (Multi-Family Residential) (rezoning) cont. from 1/22/07, Item 7D City Attorney Ciocchetti read Ord. 2006-O-39 into the record. Development Services Director Lear made a staff presentation. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Thomas opened and closed the public hearing and entertained a motion. Councilwoman Rogers moved to approve Ord. 2006-O-39, Tom Valley, agent for PC Capital, LLC, requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to include 3.67+ acres of land located east of Old County Road, north of Pearl Street as R-4 (Multi-Family Residential), second by Councilwoman Lichter . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . nd H.2 Reading, Ord. No. 2006-O-40, Tom Valley, agent for PC Capital, LLC, requesting an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map to include 1.1+ acres of land located east of Old County Road, north of Pearl Street as Medium Density Residential (small scale comprehensive plan amendment) cont. from 1/22/07, Item 7E City Attorney Ciocchetti read Ord. 2006-O-40 into the record. Development Services Director Lear made a staff presentation. Glenn Storch , Law firm of Storch, Morris and Harris, stated as they can see from the concept plan, a majority of this Page 21 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 area is going to be utilized for the entrance feature and the landscaping. Another plus for the infill development. Due to there being no comments, Mayor Thomas opened and closed the public hearing and entertained a motion. Councilwoman Lichter moved to approve Ord. 2006-O-40, Tom Valley, agent for PC Capital, LLC, requesting an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map to include 1.1+ acres of land located east of Old County Road, north of Pearl Street as Medium Density Residential, second by Councilwoman Rhodes. The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . nd I.2 Reading, Ord. No. 2006-O-41, Tom Valley, agent for PC Capital, LLC, requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to include 1.1+ acres of land located east of Old County Road, north of Pearl Street as R-4 (Multi-Family Residential) (rezoning) cont. from 1/22/07, Item 7F City Attorney Ciocchetti read Ord. 2006-O-41 into the record. Development Services Director 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-41, Tom Valley, agent for PC Capital, LLC, requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to include 1.1+ acres of land located east of Old County Road, north of Pearl Street as R-4 (Multi-Family Residential), second by Councilwoman Lichter . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . nd J.2 Reading, Ord. No. 2006-O-42, Gregory Lee requesting an amendment to the Official Zoning Map to include 96.24+ acres of land located south of SR 442 east of I-95 as BPUD (Business Planned Unit Development) and approval of the associated BPUD st Agreement for Indian River Crossing (rezoning) 1 Reading 12/4/06, Item 7C (to be continued) Page 22 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 City Attorney Ciocchetti read Ord. 2006-O-42 into the record and informed Council they should entertain a motion to continue this to a time certain, August 6, 2007. Mayor Thomas entertained a motion. Councilwoman Lichter moved to continue Ord. 2006-O-42 until August 6, 2007, second by Councilwoman Rhodes . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . nd K.2 Reading, Ord. No. 2007-O-01, amending the Land Development Code to include language pertaining to the Proportionate Fair Share Program to mitigate transportation impacts on development City Attorney Ciocchetti read Ord. 2007-O-01 into the record. Development Services Director Lear made a staff presentation. Mayor Thomas opened the public hearing. The following citizen spoke: Dave Ross , 2803 Needle Palm Drive, commented on being the only negative vote on this as a member of the Planning and Zoning Board. They do not know unless there has been some development since the Planning & Zoning Board reviewed this as to whether or not this will give the City more money or less money than our current impact fees give us. Being aware that the State Legislature is grossly affected by the big development lobbyists he suspected they would not want to pay us more money rather they would want to pay us less. If the City is going to receive less money because they vote this in, they have done the citizens of Edgewater a gross disservice. He suggested before they pass this that it be investigated and determined what the income level will be as opposed to the current income level generated by our impact fees. There is a deadline. If they don’t meet that deadline, they will not be able to submit a Comp Plan change to the State until they do pass it. It’s not to say that they couldn’t live with that. He suggested they further review this. Find out what the financial impacts are. If it is negative he thinks it would be in the best Page 23 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 interest for the Council to make a gross objection to the State Legislature before they pass it. He didn’t think this was asking too much. If they continue it or table it until they know what the financial effect is going to be, he feels that is what they owe the citizens. City Manager Williams felt it was a tough question to answer. They are all treading on new ground. As it was pointed out in the school concurrency meeting, this is going to radically change the way every governmental entity does business within the State. With regard as to whether or not it has a financial impact on the cities, he would venture to say no but he can’t give them a definitive answer on that. When you look at the impact a development has on a potential segment of road, the ordinance clearly allows impact fees to be given to that developer with regards to the amount of improvements that have to be made within that road. The idea here is that the impacts that are created on the traffic from the development itself be paid for from the development itself. Mayor Thomas asked City Manager Williams if he had time to research it if he would come back and tell them that staff would recommend no. City Manager Williams informed him they don’t have an option. As Mr. Ross pointed out, the State would not allow them to submit any Comprehensive Plan Amendments as a result of that. They are in accordance with Senate Bill 360. This has been passed at the State level. They are going to be faced with the same thing when they bring in school concurrency and water. Councilwoman Rhodes stated that doesn’t stop them from protesting it at a future date if they do lose money. City Manager Williams stated and they certainly will protest it if it negatively impacts the revenues to the City. It is no different than a statewide tax reform that negatively affects the tax revenues of the City. Councilwoman Rhodes felt they needed to stick to the timeline. City Attorney Ciocchetti stated he knew it was a FDOT model ordinance or at least most of them that have been adopted. He didn’t work directly on this but FDOT put out a model ordinance with provisions they could pick and choose from. Page 24 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 Mayor Thomas stated it isn’t like they are going into this blind. They are giving them all opportunities. They are trying to learn as they go along because it is a whole new avenue. He appreciated Mr. Ross’ prognosis to look for the worst out of things. He feels they need that healthy discussion. He feels if they keep tabling business they are slowing down the wheels that they have to do anyway. Councilwoman Lichter feels there are some things that are out of their hands. City Manager Williams stated one idea behind Senate Bill 360 is to demonstrate that development is paying for itself. They came up with a proportionate fair share calculation that tries to demonstrate that that development and the impacts it is going to create on that roadway network are going to be paid for and borne by the developer. From that aspect, it is a positive change. Councilwoman Lichter feels there has to be some unity. Councilwoman Rhodes feels it shouldn’t need to be legislated. It is common sense. Mayor Thomas closed the public hearing and entertained a motion. Councilwoman Rhodes moved to approve Ord. 2007-O-01, amending the Land Development Code to include language pertaining to the Proportionate Fair Share Program to mitigate transportation impacts on development, second by Councilwoman Lichter . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . L. Res. No. 2007-R-02, supporting key priority issues during the 2007 legislative session City Attorney Ciocchetti read Res. 2007-R-02 into the record. City Manager Williams made a staff presentation. Councilman Vincenzi asked why this came about this year. City Manager Williams felt they had some challenges against municipalities home rules so they have seen a number of these attempts that have come through and a number of other issues relating to tax reform and other things of that Page 25 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 nature that they felt it was imperative to develop a set of key priorities that reflects every cities position within the State and send them to Tallahassee as a legislative initiative. City Attorney Ciocchetti thought this had been done last year, possibly in 2005. Councilwoman Lichter felt some of the property tax issues that are coming down will kill us. They are very serious and they have to go to the legislative meetings if they can. They may sound good but in the end they are going to boomerang and they aren’t going to have money to operate. City Manager Williams informed Council he and staff are looking at what the potential impact will be on our ad valorems with some of the proposed tax amendments. He will bring back what those impacts will be. As they go through and with some of the changes that are being proposed they are trying to develop a mechanism by which they can project that impact to give Council a clear understanding of what is forthcoming. Councilman Vincenzi stated even if this is voted on and approved, it is just a resolution supporting potential legislation that FLOC may put forward. City Manager Williams felt the League’s position was unity and strength. City Manager Williams informed Council if they weren’t comfortable with it they could deny it or come back and develop their own set of initiatives and communicate that. Councilwoman Rogers asked about the FLOC having a seminar th on February 24 regarding their priorities. Councilwoman Lichter commented on the WAV meeting, which is almost a total conflict because a lot of Mayor’s sit as representatives on the Water Authority being on the same day. At their Board meeting on Wednesday, they are going to have to discuss how they can do both things. She feels the legislative meeting is very important to attend. Mayor Thomas feels they can look at two things. The recent vote on the Charter Amendments for the County. The County just sort of left the cities out and said they were going to do their own thing. The sixteen cities banned together. The President of the FLOC was at the dinner and he was very Page 26 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 adamant about increasing the homestead exemption to $50,000 and that is going to ruin us. They are fighting that for us. He asked if they are supporting the League on these issues. City Manager Williams felt what they were saying is they want a fair and equitable solution to the tax reform. Mayor Thomas feels the State is putting the burden back on the counties and the cities. He feels they need to support it. Councilwoman Lichter agreed. Mayor Thomas entertained a motion. Councilwoman Rhodes moved to approve Res. 2007-R-02, supporting key priority issues during the 2007 legislative session, second by Councilwoman Lichter . City Attorney Ciochetti asked if there was an opportunity for citizen comments. Mayor Thomas didn’t think he had to do that for a resolution. The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . 8. BOARD APPOINTMENTS A.Recreation/Cultural Services: 1. Nomination by Councilwoman Rogers to fill a vacated seat due to the expired term of Jo Hagan who seeks reappointment Councilwoman Rogers moved to reappoint Jo Hagan, second by Councilwoman Lichter . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . 2. Nomination by Councilman Vincenzi to fill a vacated seat due to the expired term of Diane Trout who seeks reappointment Councilman Vincenzi moved to reappoint Diane Trout, second by Councilwoman Rhodes . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . Page 27 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 3. Nomination by Councilwoman Rhodes to fill a vacated seat due to the expired term of Joe Fishback who seeks reappointment Councilwoman Rhodes moved to reappoint Joe Fishback, second by Councilwoman Lichter . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . B.General Employees Pension Board: 1. Appointment by City Manager to fill a vacated seat due to the expired term of Robert Polizzi who seeks reappointment City Manager Williams respectfully requested they reappoint Robert Polizzi. Councilwoman Rhodes moved to reappoint Robert Polizzi, second by Councilwoman Lichter . The MOTION CARRIED 5-0 . 2. Nomination of a Council member to fill a vacated seat due to the expired term of Councilwoman Rhodes Councilwoman Rhodes felt someone else should have an opportunity due to having done it for a long time. Councilwoman Rhodes asked if she has the right to say she doesn’t want to do this. Mayor Thomas informed her she could. Councilwoman Rhodes stated she just did. Councilwoman Rogers moved to appoint Councilwoman Rhodes, second by Councilman Vincenzi. The MOTION CARRIED 4-1. Councilwoman Rhodes voted NO . 9. OTHER BUSINESS There was no Other Business to be discussed at this time. 10. OFFICER REPORTS A. City Clerk Wadsworth had nothing at this time. Page 28 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 B. City Attorney Ciocchetti City Attorney Ciocchetti reported on a trip and fall case. The law firm of Bell, Leaper and Roper started the statutory claim process. They will be handling that. There is also a new auto accident case. Again Roper started the process there. Councilwoman Rhodes asked what that was about. City Manager Williams informed her reference to an accident that occurred with a City Employee three years ago and they are now coming forth with a lawsuit. C. City Manager Williams City Manager Williams updated Council on the positions that have been frozen. The Council approved two new police officer positions. Every year around October 1st and until the ad valorem revenues come in it is a very lean time period for the City. As a result of such, they have put a freeze on all new positions and any positions that became vacant within that time period. As some of the tax revenues have begun to come in they have started to release those positions and they are going ahead and interviewing today for one of the vacant police officers’ positions. Also during that time period, they had a firefighter that had separated from service and they placed a freeze on that position and they have authorized for them to go ahead and move forward with hiring a new replacement for that person. Currently they have a Finance Clerk position that is on hold pending the reorganization within City Hall and trying to maximize the use of that position as well. They have one Plans Permit Clerk that has vacated and there is no intention to fill that position at this point in time. They are interviewing for an Animal Control Officer position on Wednesday. They will be doing a mid-year budget review and they will probably place a freeze on those vacant positions while they do that mid-year budget review and come back to council and let them know where those status’ are. That is the philosophy they are following. Councilwoman Rhodes stated if they could do without these people why are they hiring anyway. City Manager Williams stated he didn’t necessarily know they could do without them. When they approved this budget, they lowered the millage rate and they had some contingencies that were Page 29 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 built into the reserve. They have had some other vacancies that have occurred in various departments and it takes some time to get through background checks and physicals. They are placing a priority on getting us back to staffing. Councilwoman Rhodes informed City Manager Williams he didn’t say they were going to staff it and they are doing background check. He said they put a freeze on it. A firefighter left and he put a freeze on it. City Manager Williams stated and he said they released the freeze. Councilwoman Rhodes asked how long there was a freeze and it compromised safety. If it didn’t, why do they need them anyway? City Manager Williams didn’t feel it compromised safety but they were faced with the challenge of trying to build some contingencies within this budget. They had a serious cash flow problem. That was the means by which they sought out to address. They have a need. He further commented on the overtime expenses being very high right now. Councilwoman Rhodes wanted to know that City Manager Williams’ caution wasn’t compromising safety. Fire Chief Tracey Barlow stated those positions have been backfilled with overtime positions so they have had minimum staff on-duty every single day. There is no compromise in safety. Councilwoman Rhodes asked if that saves money why don’t they do that all the time. Fire Chief Barlow stated currently the employees already work an average of 56-hour workweeks. With overtime they get extremely burned out working additional shifts. Councilwoman Rhodes wanted to give them the opportunity if it saves the City money and they need the money then why do they not go that route. Fire Chief Barlow stated currently a firefighter works twenty-four hours on and forty-eight hours off. City Manager Williams then commented on the follow up report to the Building Department and Development Services Department quarterly report. He provided this to Council in their packet. City Manager Williams then presented a brief update on the status of the letters of interest that they were seeking for the veterinarians. As of today they have not had Page 30 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 anybody that is interested in collocating their services within the City’s facility. That sends them back to the drawing board. They are currently looking at options and trying to identify a date they can come forward to Council and present all of their findings. They will hold a separate, special meeting to address that issue. City Manager Williams stated he is holding conversation, if it is Council’s intention to revisit the 35-foot height limit and some other questions with regard to funding for a City Hall site, public safety facility, a consultant that would walk them through a citizens’ survey to see if the timing is correct in pursuing a venture of that nature. He is moving forward with their discussion. He should have a letter of interest and will bring this back to Council for their discussion and consideration of an agreement. Councilwoman Rogers asked City Manager Williams if he and Development Services Director Lear have met with Mr. McMillan. City Manager Williams informed her not yet. They have an appointment scheduled at the attorney’s office with himself and Carolyn when she returns from vacation. Councilwoman Rogers stated they gave a six-month extension to him or they talked about it briefly at the last meeting but they have not given him a six month extension from the th date last year, she believed it was April 6. Her concern is the media and what has been in the newspaper most recently quoted by Mr. McMillan or by any other representative of Edgewater Harbor alleging that the City has stalled him. Edgewater Harbor was one of three RFP’s that was provided to the City back in 2004 regarding the development of that site, the Pre-Stressed Concrete and what was initially proposed is not what has happened. Then they turned around and came back to them last year and changed things again. If they do not have some very quick resolve for this, does the City have any recourse because they bought the land from Volusia County for $3 million and within 30 minutes it was sold to Hawk McMillan for the same dirty cheap price. The only reason that was done was because he promised the stars and the moon to the City. It has not happened. Everything he promised didn’t happen. City Manager Williams thought they were looking at that from on perspective. Some of the discussions they have had earlier and will continue to have make the situation a little more complicated when Council approved the amendment Page 31 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 to the original design that was done, changing the concept altogether. Councilwoman Rogers stated now he is turning around and he is changing things making it sound as if the City is holding him back from doing what he is doing when they turned around and allowed him to make this change last April because of the situation at the time. She wanted to clarify they have not yet given him a six-month extension. City Manager Williams confirmed that was correct. Councilwoman Rogers stated so therefore, he is still on the th hook until April 6. City Manager Williams stated obviously, once they have the discussions with him he would imagine there would be some sort of request that comes back. Councilwoman Rogers stated that is an issue and something they need to look at as far as where they stand on that. They have given him enough time and have even allowed him to change the original plan. Mayor Thomas asked if they were going to designate what Department Heads they are going to excuse from the next meeting. City Manager Williams stated from what he understood, they are all here because at one point in time Council thought citizens questions should be answered. The way he understands City Clerk Wadsworth’s proposal and Council consensus, as those folks ask questions they will get a card from her with a guaranteed response time from her within forty-eight hours. Mayor Thomas felt they needed the Police Chief, Fire Chief and Director of Environmental Services at the meetings. The Interim Personnel Director sat through the whole meeting and nobody has asked a personnel question. They have wasted how many hours of the City’s time. City Manager Williams stated in the past what they have done is if they have an agenda item, they would attend the meetings. If it is Council’s pleasure to allow forty-eight hours to respond to those folks they could go back to the original if they have an agenda item then come forward. If it is Council’s position that these folks get an answer then they would all need to be there because they can’t predict. Councilwoman Lichter felt both things should apply. If it is an agenda item they should be there. The other questions could be fielded through City Clerk Wadsworth. Page 32 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 It was the consensus of Council to give it a try. City Manager Williams stated they are going to go back to the old way. If they have an agenda item they show up. If they have a question they can get a card from City Clerk Wadsworth. Mayor Thomas again expressed having the Police Chief, Fire Chief and Director of Environmental Services at the meetings. He asked if Council agreed on that. Councilwoman Rhodes didn’t. She didn’t think Mr. Wadsworth needed to be there unless he had something on the agenda. She felt Police Chief Taves needed to be there in case they have a public safety issue. If they get a rowdy crowd, they need somebody there. She didn’t feel they needed Fire Chief Barlow either unless he had something on the agenda. She would let City Manager Williams decide who needs to be there but she does feel Police Chief Taves needs to be there or his designee. 1. Tentative Agenda Items There were no Tentative Agenda Items to be discussed. 11. CITIZEN COMMENTS The following citizens spoke: Mike Visconti , 316 Pine Breeze Drive, asked where the City buys their gasoline. He urged the City not to purchase Citgo gas, which is owned by Chavez in Venezuela. The more people that know about it the less gas is sold and the best it is for this country. He urged the City not to buy Citgo gas. Mayor Thomas asked Mr. Visconti if it costs more money to buy other gas do they still want them to do that. Mr. Visconti informed him yes. Dominic Capria , 606 Topside Circle, clarified that they do agree that Department Heads have to be there if they have an item on the agenda. Councilwoman Rhodes informed him yes. Mr. Capria stated he didn’t know how they would save money if they weren’t there. He didn’t realize they were being Page 33 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007 comped which is okay. If they are going to go through the procedure, they have to go through City Clerk Wadsworth and the director has to get in touch with them. They are taking his time when he can do more important things. To him, it doesn’t make sense. 12. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, Councilwoman Rhodes moved to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 9:25 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Lisa Bloomer Page 34 of 34 Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2007