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Item 9Asw e~ January 2, 2007 MEMORANDUM TO: The Honorable Mayor and Members of the Commission FROM: Jim Hanso C'i~jvf SUBJECT: City Mana is Report AGENDA ITEM #9A JANUARY 8, 2007 Request to relocate Crepe Myrtles from Atlantic Boulevard Median; The FDOT has directed the City to remove three crepe myrtles from the western most landscaped median on Atlantic ,~ Boulevard between the Tradewinds Shopping Plaza and Ash Mini Storage. They are blocking the view of a billboard on the Neptune Beach side of the highway and state law guarantees billboard owners the right to have unobstructed views of their signs across state roads. ,~, Apparently the billboard owner, Clear Channel, has complained to the FDOT recently, although the crepe myrtles have been in their present locations for over seven years. The billboard owner also complained about one of the medjool palms although the FDOT representative has disputed ,~, that this tree interferes with the visibility of their sign. City staff will have the crepe myrtles moved within the next few weeks. ,~ FY 2007/2008 Budget Request from Water Management District; The St. Johns River Water Management District has released their "Lower St. Johns River Basin Initiative" outlining their plan to make improvements to the water quality in the lower St. Johns River. This document ~,,, includes a list of capital projects in priority order which total over $35 million dollars in funding requests to the state legislature. The highest priority project is entitled "Discharge Reduction and Reuse Initiative" which .includes five "example endeavors" with a price total $15 million dollars. The first of those is listed as "Atlantic Beach Waste water Treatment Plant Improvements". No specific dollar amount is listed for this project. Atlantic Beach has not made a funding request for waste water improvements. WMD staff indicated that they anticipate a request from Atlantic ~. Beach within the next year. Policies related to the use of state funds for waste water plant improvements are currently being debated by the TMDL Executive Committee. Some of these policies may have substantial effect on Atlantic Beach. Staff will continue to attend these ~. meetings and report to the commission when major decisions are made. ~. AGENDA ITEM #9A JANUARY 8, 2007 Employee of the Year; Patty Drake, Purchasing Agent for the City, has been named the city's ~** Employee of the Year for 2006. She has always been ready to take on challenges with initiative and looks for ways to improve the systems for everyone. She is well regarded by other employees in every city department for her helpfulness and problem solving, getting supply orders processed and "cutting through the red tape". She continuously goes above and beyond the requirements of her job to assist others. She volunteered to help organize the Annual Employee Picnic and has on many occasions stepped in to cover duties from other departments ~'" when people are out sick or on vacation. She has a great work ethic and a cheerful nature. As the Employee of the Yeaz, she will be honored at a luncheon, get two days off, receive a designated parking space in the City Hall lot, a plaque and a check for $500. FCC Order on Video Franchising The Federal Communications Commission on December 20 approved a request from several telephone companies to preempt local governments on several issues relating to local franchising of video service providers. This order requires local governments to rule on franchise applications within 90 days, bars local governments from requiring "build out" (making new franchisees provide service to all areas of the community and not just the most profitable ones) and limits the amount that a jurisdiction can receive in franchise fees to 5% of the television revenues. It is not yet known if the FCC order will also limit the ability of local governments to regulate the use ofright-of--ways by requiring prior notice of major projects, limiting the company's ability to trim or remove trees or other right-of- way related requirements. There is a good chance that the FCC ruling will be disputed in the courts by any number of possible interveners. The Atlantic Beach Commission has previously adopted a resolution urging federal and state representatives to support the continued right of cities and counties to regulate the use of their right-of--ways. The Florida League of Cities 2007 legislative platform also contains language urging the state government to leave these decisions in the hands of local governments. A copy of a recent story on this from the Washington Post dated December 21St is attached for more information. Alcohol Sales to Minors; Over the weekend of November 18th and 19th, 2006, Atlantic Beach police officers conducted an underage alcohol deployment to determine if minors would be able to purchase alcohol from various conve~uence stores and gas stations. There were 11 stores that ~.. were checked, and people at six of them were charged for sale of alcohol to minors. A follow-up deployment was conducted last week at 20 stores, bars and restaurants. Of those, minors were ~, only able to purchase alcohol at three. One of those included the CITGO gas station at 1600 Mayport Road, where chazges were made a second time for the same offense. ~„ While the City of Atlantic Beach Police Department can make cases against individuals for violation of the state law, only the state can revoke their business licenses. DBAT officials have advised the city that they will not consider pursuing an administrative case for license revocation ,~„ unless there have been three violations. City officers will work closely with DBAT to conduct additional deployments at the same locations where offenses have occurred in the next few months. !w eew AGENDA ITEM #9A JANUARY 8, 2007 FCC Vote A Victory For Phone Companies TV Service Rule Hurts Cable Firms By Alan Sipress, Washington Post, 12/21 A divided Federal Communications Commission yesterday approved a measure aimed at helping telephone companies move into cable television markets by significantly limiting what local officials can demand in return for franchises. The new rule reflects the intensifying battle between the phone and cable industries over who will control distribution of video, voice and Internet access in an increasingly wired country. But the telephone industry's victory could prove temporary because opponents say the measure will almost certainly be challenged in court. The FCC voted 3 to 2 along party lines to change how local officials award television franchises to eliminate what Republican supporters said were unreasonable demands and delays. The measure requires local regulators to rule on franchise applications within 90 days for companies such as Verizon Communications and AT8~T that have wires in place. It also bars local officials from requiring that companies provide TV service to everyone in a jurisdiction and prevents them from demanding fees or in-kind contributions exceeding 5 percent of the television revenues. Verizon has been seeking local TV franchises nationwide and has won more than 200, including agreements with most of the counties and cities in the Washington area. The company has said it plans to win 3,300 franchises nationwide and has been lobbying state legislatures and Congress to speed up the approval process. The FCC's Republican majority said that removing unreasonable hurdles erected by local governments would translate into lower cable rates. Democratic members disagreed and accused the Republicans of overstepping the FCC's authority. FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin, a leading proponent of the new federal rule, called it crucial for breaking the virtual monopoly held by cable companies in many areas and reversing the steady increase in cable bills over the past decade. Martin said the measure, which is to take effect next year, also would makebroadband Internet access more widely available because telephone companies would gain revenue to continue building fiber-optic networks. "The record collected by the commission in this proceeding cited instances where [local officials] sat on applications for more than a year or required extraordinary in-kind contributions such as the building of public swimming pools and recreation centers," Martin said. But the commission's Democrats warned that the FCC, by exceeding its legal mandate, would face time-consuming challenges from opponents, including cable companies and local officials angered by what they say is a preemption of their authority. "The end result will likely be litigation, confusion of the process and a certain amount of chaos," Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein said. He questioned the claim that local officials have unreasonably refused applications, saying the FCC had not cited a single instance in which a franchise was being unduly delayed or held up because of demarids ~. aiw AGENDA ITEM #9A JANUARY 8, 2007 for exorbitant fees or concessions. "'The majority simply accepts in every case that the big ,~ phone companies are right and the local governments are wrong, Adelstein said. In the District, where phone companies do not have franchises to provide television service, officials called the FCC decision troubling. "People in the District would be concerned if control is taken away from local municipalities. Cities could be damaged in many different ways," said J. Carl Wilson, general counsel of the D.C. Office of Cable Television and Telecommunications. He said District residents could suffer if officials no longer asked providers for public channels. Montgomery County Council President Marilyn Praisner (D-Eastern County) said consumers would suffer from the FCC ruling. "This is an early Christmas present of a stocking full of coal," she said, predicting that the county and other jurisdictions would challenge the decision in court. Montgomery County and Verizon clashed this year over the company's ultimately successful bid to win a franchise there. The United States Telecom Association, a telephone industry trade group, said the measure would give consumers more choice. "The steps outlined today will help fix the franchising process and end the unnecessary delays caused by outdated regulations," said Walter B. McCormick Jr., president of the association. Kyle McSlarrow, president of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, said the FCC gave phone companies an unfair advantage over longtime cable providers. FCC officials promised to study how cable providers should be treated when their franchises come up for renewal. ..,