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3-14-11 v MINUTES REGULAR CITY COMMISSION MEETING March 14, 2011 CITY HALL, 800 SEMINOLE ROAD Attendance IN ATTENDANCE: Mayor Mike Borno City Attorney Alan C. Jensen Mayor Pro Tem John L. Fletcher City Manager Jim Hanson Commissioner Jonathan Daugherty City Clerk Donna L. Bartle Commissioner Paul Parsons Recording Secretary Nancy E. Bailey Commissioner Carolyn Woods Call to Order/Pledge Mayor Borno called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Commissioner Daugherty gave the Invocation, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Approval of Minutes 1. Approve the minutes of the Regular Commission Meeting of February 28, 2011. Motion: Approve the minutes of the Regular Commission Meeting of February 28, 2011, as written. Moved by Woods, Seconded by Parsons. Votes: Aye: 5 — Borno, Daugherty, Fletcher, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED Courtesy of the Floor 2. Courtesy of the Floor to Visitors. A. Proclamation - Helping Hands and Linking Arms Day of Service. Mayor Borno read the Proclamation in its entirety proclaiming April 16, 2011 as Helping Hands and Linking Arms Day of Service to fill the blood and food banks and presented the proclamation to Ruth Carrin, Tri-Stake Director of Public Affairs for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter -day Saints and representatives of The Blood Alliance, Second Harvest North Florida and the Northeast Florida Red Cross. Mayor Borno opened the Courtesy of the Floor to Visitors. He welcomed the audience and explained the process for public comments. Josh Ashby, One Fleet Landing Blvd., Executive Director of Fleet Landing, summarized the events leading up to the new Fleet Landing sign and asked that the Commission approve the existing location of the new sign. Bill Deem, 2341 Fiddlers Lane, representing the Kangaroo store, asked that the Commission defer ruling on the Fleet Landing sign tonight for two weeks to a month to give them some time so they may be able to work something out. He explained their law firm had to withdraw due to a conflict because one of their other lawyers was representing Fleet Landing. He further stated they just found out about this item being on the agenda on Friday. He briefly discussed the issues with the current location of March 14, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Pate 2 the new Fleet Landing sign and distributed pictures to the Commission. Mayor Borno asked if he had a time specific. He asked if he would prefer deferring this until the April 11 meeting. Mr. Deem said if they could have a month that would be great, but he could make it happen in two weeks. He stated the benefit of additional time is to give them time to get their acts together; this is the sort of thing that needs a win/win. He stated there shouldn't be a winner and a loser here and he hopes they can all get together to make this work and the more time they have the more likely that is to happen. Mayor Borno asked Mr. Ashby if deferring for a month would be a problem for him. He stated it would not. Mayor Borno stated he would take this into consideration when they get to the item on the agenda. No one else from the audience spoke so Mayor Borno closed the Courtesy of the Floor to Visitors. Unfinished Business 3. Unfinished Business from Previous Meeting from Previous A. City Manager's Follow -up Report. Meeting Mr. Hanson reported on the Dog Park revenues stating they have registered 172 dogs as of March 3 with total revenues, including some miscellaneous items, of $7,825. He further reported the streets planned for resurfacing under the current budget are West Begonia Street from 6 to 9 Lakeview Court, and West 14 Street from Orchid to Main St. He stated under next year's budget the southbound side of Selva Marina Drive will probably be resurfaced. Consent Agenda 4. Consent Agenda ALL MATTERS LISTED UNDER THE CONSENT AGENDA ARE CONSIDERED TO BE ROUTINE BY THE CITY COMMISSION AND WILL BE ENACTED BY ONE MOTION IN THE FORM LISTED BELOW. THERE WILL BE NO SEPARATE DISCUSSION OF THESE ITEMS. IF DISCUSSION IS DESIRED, THAT ITEM WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA AND WILL BE CONSIDERED SEPARATELY. SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION AND STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS HAVE BEEN PREVIOUSLY SUBMITTED TO THE CITY COMMISSION ON THESE ITEMS. A. Acknowledge receipt of the Building Department Monthly Activity Report and Utility Sales Report for February 2011, List of New Business Tax Receipts issued in February 2011, and the Public Works and Utility Departments Project Status Report as of March 4, 2011. B. Declare list of property as surplus so the assets may be disposed of in the most beneficial way to the City. Mayor Borno read the Consent Agenda. Motion: Approve Consent Agenda Items A & B as read. Moved by Fletcher, Seconded by Woods. March 14, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 3 Votes: Aye: 5 — Borno, Daugherty, Fletcher, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED Commissioner Parsons recognized and congratulated Donna Bagby for the work she and her group have done for the Dog Park. Committee Reports 5. Committee Reports None. Action on Resolutions 6. Action on Resolutions A. Resolution No. 11 -19 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH, SUPPORTING POLICE OFFICER PENSION PLAN REFORM. Mayor Borno read Resolution No. 11 -19 by title. Motion: Approve Resolution No. 11-19 as read. Moved by Parsons, Seconded by Woods. Mayor Borno summarized the resolution, stating this was one of the priorities of the Florida League of Cities. He stated cities throughout the State are working on these resolutions which are being forwarded to the Legislature. He stated the resolution is asking for a leveling of the playing field and backing away from mandatory requirements on the cities by Florida Statutes. Commissioner Woods stated there is reference to 1999 laws and asked for clarification that they were not asking for the pension benefits to revert back to what they were in 1999. Mayor Borno stated that was correct. He further stated all they want is a level playing field so collective bargaining can be done at the local level without mandates being put with stipulations that become unfunded mandates on the locals. Votes: Aye: 5 Borno, Daugherty, Fletcher, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED Action on Ordinances 7. Action on Ordinances None. Miscellaneous 8. Miscellaneous Business Business A. Approval of location of Fleet Landing sign. March 14, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 4 Mayor Borno asked if, due to the request for deferral, staff still wanted to give their presentation. Mr. Hanson stated if the Commission wanted to agree to a deferral it would be easier to do that, rather than giving the same staff report a second time. Motion: Defer to April 11, 2011. Moved by Parsons, Seconded by Woods Votes: Aye: 5 — Borno, Daugherty, Fletcher, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED B. Award Stormwater Masterplan Update RFP #11-02. Public Works Director Rick Carper summarized his staff report, stating staff recommended Camp, Dresser and McKee to do the Stormwater Masterplan update. He further explained the ranking in his staff report was based on a review of the written proposals only but the final rankings were based following oral interviews with the top three firms. He answered several questions from the Commission. Mayor Borno pointed out that the designated project manager is Mr. Guzman who has worked on a project for the City in the past. Motion: Authorize staff to begin negotiations with Camp, Dresser and McKee for engineering services for the Stormwater Masterplan Update. Moved by Fletcher, Seconded by Parsons. Votes: Aye: 5 — Borno, Daugherty, Fletcher, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED City Manager 9. City Manager A. City Manager's Report. Mr. Hanson reported on the new ordinances proposed for adoption by the Pension Board for the General and Police Pension Plans. He explained the three options on how to deal with the proposed ordinances. One would be to prepare a detailed review of the currently proposed draft ordinances and for the Commission to adopt the new ordinances within the next couple of months. Another option would be to wait until the State Legislature has determined what changes will be made this year and have those changes incorporated into the draft ordinance prior to consideration. A third option would be to wait even longer until the State Legislature's changes are known, the City has a actuarial study done on possible plan savings, the Commission provides instructions to staff for union negotiations, and, finally, those negotiations are completed and changes are ready to be incorporated. He stated the last option made the most sense to him because you get all the changes in the pension plans at one time. Commissioner Woods asked if the Commission decides on the earlier options that the City Manager would be continuing the process of evaluating the recommendations and March 14, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 5 watching what's going on. Mr. Hanson stated they will be looking at these in more detail soon. Mr. Hanson also reported the Facebook page has now been set up for the Recreation Department. He stated they can send out notices of various recreation events in the City. He stated they have been tracking staff time to get this set up and will continue to track it at the Commission's request as discussed at the Strategic Planning. He stated they will bring back a report in six months regarding the time involved to run it, as well as the usage. He further reported a workshop is scheduled for tomorrow at 5:00 at Adele Grage to discuss the Police Building. He stated the architects will be there to present the status of the design work and the Finance Director will discuss budget estimates and whether we can afford to finance this out of our own funds rather than borrowing money to do it. David Thompson distributed a handout of the presentation for the Commission's review. Commissioner Fletcher stated the Commission should direct the City Manager on what to do with the pension ordinances and proposed the decision on the pension should be postponed until after the State Legislature has passed whatever pension law they are going to pass. Commissioner Woods asked how this will affect negotiations this summer; not knowing what the State's going to do or what our new ordinance is going to say. Mr. Hanson stated there are three sets of changes proposed. The first is the one just submitted as a rewrite of both ordinances to bring them up to speed with State and Federal Regulations. He stated, with the second set, they anticipate the State Legislature will make changes to the pension laws which will be in conflict with our ordinances so they will have to change them in some ways to match up with the new State laws. He stated the legislative session will be out in about 45 days so we will know at the latest by the first of July. He stated the third set of changes would come from the Commission's instructions to negotiate with our unions. He stated, hopefully, by October 1, when the union contracts come up they would be able to reach some agreement with the unions and, if not, it would go into an impasse situation. He stated his recommendation would be to combine all three in one set of ordinances for adoption. Commissioner Woods agreed, but stated if our ordinances are that far out of compliance with State and Federal Laws she believes we should make the changes that bring us up to speed and be ready to adapt the new ones that come along. Commissioner Fletcher stated he didn't believe we were out of compliance right now. Mr. Hanson stated their attorney indicated this brings it up to date to current standards. Commissioner Fletcher stated their attorney hasn't provided any information yet about how we are in conflict, so we don't know if we are. Mayor Borno stated this is an ongoing thing, the proposed ordinances are being looked at, we will look at what the legislature does, we will have the actuarial study and then we will know where we are at. Commissioner Woods stated she believes we need to start moving ahead and not wait until the last minute and asked if they were all saying the same thing. Mayor Borno stated yes, it is in progress. Mr. Hanson stated he will keep the Commission posted. March 14, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 6 Reports/Requests 10. Reports and /or requests from City Commissioners and City Attorney City Commissioners A. Appointment to Board Member Review Committee. City Attorney Mayor Borno explained there is one vacancy on the Board Member Review Committee due to Glenn Fisher being termed out effective March 27, 2011. He stated there are four candidates to be considered, Myron Blankenbaker, Benjamin de Luna, Jerry Johnson and Mitchell Reeves. He stated after reviewing the applicants, he recommended the Commission appoint Mitch Reeves to be the replacement on the Board Member Review Committee. Motion: Appoint Mitch Reeves to fill the vacancy on the Board Member Review Committee with his term beginning on March 28, 2011 and ending on March 27, 2013. Moved by Borno, Seconded by Fletcher Votes: Aye: 5 — Borno, Daugherty, Fletcher, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED B. Representation of Atlantic Beach at 2011 Session of Florida Legislature. Commissioner Parsons stated he has given this a lot of thought since Commissioner Daugherty brought this up at the last meeting and believes they only need one representative. He stated he would like a motion stating they will only allow one person to attend because it saves the City so much money and it is not necessary to have two elected officials when you can only have one representative. Motion: Only have one elected official and one Department Head or City Manager attend. Moved by Parsons, Seconded by Daugherty Commissioner Daugherty stated, according to the report the City Clerk gave the Commission, in order for attendance to not be a violation of the Sunshine Law only one person can speak, which reinforced his initial misgivings. He stated they will probably have to cut their travel budget next year and stated it makes sense to only have one person go. Commissioner Woods asked City Attorney Jensen if there is anything in the Charter stating the Commission has the right to limit her access to the legislature. Mr. Jensen stated no, but he believes the Commission can control the budget funds. She stated the motion is that she is not allowed to go, not that they won't pay for her to go. Mr. Jensen stated he understood the motion to state that only one elected official could go. Commissioner Woods agreed, stating that is different than stating they are not willing to pay for me to go. She stated they are telling her she is not allowed to go and she stated that is really, really bad government. She stated she is astonished that they brought this up and are even discussing it. Mr. Jensen asked if her question was, is there something in the Charter that gives the Commission ...? Commissioner Woods interjected, the right to limit her access to the legislature, to demand that she not go to March 14, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Pate 7 Tallahassee and be involved in the process. Mr. Jensen stated he does not know if there is anything specific, there are parts of our Ordinance and Charter but he will have to look at it to refresh about the Commission regulating and setting its own rules. He stated he does not believe there is any limitation on her going to the State Legislature at all. He stated he believes what they are talking about is in an official capacity, representing the City. Commissioner Woods stated she is saying there is nothing in the Charter that gives them the right to say that she cannot go. Mr. Jensen repeated that there may not be, he would have to look at it and look at the Ordinance. Commissioner Woods stated then she would like to make a motion to defer until he figures that out, because she would really hate for them to be operating outside of the Charter. She stated she was appalled. Commissioner Fletcher stated he is not advocating that Commissioner Woods be prevented from going to Tallahassee but the Commission can say that the Mayor and one delegate from the City staff speak for the City and the Commission. He stated it is her First Amendment right to go to Tallahassee and do whatever she wants to do. He stated, however, in terms of an official capacity for the City of Atlantic Beach he can definitely see a Sunshine problem because they both could be in a room talking to legislators on issues that the Commission might vote on in some point in the future. Commissioner Woods pointed out that, in the past, more than one Commissioner has gone and there has not been any issue. She stated she believes they are really stretching the Sunshine Law to fit their own desires and needs. She stated the Sunshine Law does not say they are not allowed to be in the same place or they are not allowed to speak, it says they are not allowed to discuss things that will be on the agenda. She stated she believes they need to rethink what they are saying and the implications. City Attorney Jensen stated the opinion from the Florida League of Cities, as far as the attendance of two commissioners at the same meeting during Legislative Action Day, is that only one commissioner is allowed to speak. Commissioner Woods stated the Florida League of Cities opinion is one thing, the State's opinion is another and when he was presented with that question before he gave a different answer, stating as long as there is no discussion it is perfectly fine. Mr. Jensen stated he is not giving a different answer than he gave before; the position as he understands it from the Florida League of Cities, is that there could be a potential Sunshine Law violation if two elected officials from the same city are at a meeting in Tallahassee during this Legislative Day because they will be discussing items that could reasonably be foreseen to come before this Commission to vote on. Mayor Borno asked if the motion was to restrict travel or for control of funds or are they dealing with the issue of two elected officials and having a designated spokesman. He stated if that is the case they should withdraw the motion and the second and say what they are after. Commissioner Parsons stated his concern is the money. He stated we have three people going over and a spokesman. He stated if the Commission has a message to carry over they should give it either to the City Manager or the Mayor. He stated during this tight budgeting time it is a little more money than they need to spend on two people travelling over to accomplish the same thing. He stated since they already have two representatives going he does not see where a third representative would do the City any good. Commissioner Woods asked if the Mayor has been given any position paper the City has come up with that he will present and stick to so they all know they agree with what he is saying. Mayor Borno stated the ten items that March 14, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 8 come out of the Florida League of Cities are the primary items they always address in how they relate to the City. Mr. Hanson stated when they go to Tallahassee it is the same thing as going to Washington. He stated the discussion they have with their elected officials there revolve around whatever the bills are that are on the table that week. He stated what the elected officials want to know when they go to Tallahassee is whether they favor a certain amendment that is going to be heard this week in a committee for whatever the issue is. He stated that is why they go over and are initially given a brief by the League of Cities as to the status of the issues. He stated their general list of legislative platforms are very general and are written that way anticipating a lot of details that come out in the legislative session that you have to be ready to work with. He stated you can't just reasonably expect to adopt something and then a week or two later go to Tallahassee and have control over what you are going to talk about. He stated, in general terms, you can talk about favoring pension reform but the real discussion is on the details of the bill that is on the table that week and whether you are in favor of it or not. He stated, as a practical matter, trying to adopt a specific point paper by the commission is not workable. He stated although we usually try to get one together, it's usually put together almost the last day before we go, to get it as up to date as possible using the League of Cities information sent to us. He stated we are often amending what they are specifically saying based on what the League of Cities will brief you on the night before. Commissioner Parsons reiterated he just believes there are too many people going over to Tallahassee. He stated Commissioner Woods can go to Tallahassee all she wants to but he doesn't want the City to pay for it and he wants only one speaker for the City. Commissioner Fletcher stated he supports Commissioner Woods going to Tallahassee; however, he supports Commissioner Parsons motion that the Mayor speaks for the Commission and that would be his intent in voting for the motion. Amended motion: Add, to have one voice for the City which will be the Mayor. Moved by Parsons, Seconded by Daugherty Commissioner Woods stated she was confused and asked to have the City Clerk state what she believes the motion is. City Clerk Donna Bartle stated she understood the motion to be that Commissioner Woods is allowed to go but there will be one voice. Commissioner Daugherty stated he was also confused. Commissioner Parsons stated Commissioner Woods would be allowed to go but we will only have one voice for the City, which is the Mayor. Commissioner Daugherty withdrew his second to the amended motion. He stated he does not see the good that comes from a second representative from the City going. After further discussion, Commissioner Parsons withdrew both of his motions. Commissioner Daugherty withdrew his second to the original motion. Motion: Speak with one voice, that voice being the Mayor. Moved by Parsons, Seconded by Fletcher March 14, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 9 Commissioner Daugherty asked for clarification that they were saying that Commissioner Woods will go with the Mayor and City staff but only the Mayor will be allowed to speak for the City. Mayor Borno stated they withdrew the original motion and the amendment and the new motion states we speak with one voice and that the Mayor and the staff representative are the ones who speak. Commissioner Woods stated that is two voices. Commissioner Parsons agreed, stating just the Mayor. He further stated elected officials are the ones who actually get the attention of the legislation, not the staff member. Commissioner Daugherty stated he will vote against this because he really believes there is no use for more than one person going and it is a waste of our funds. Votes: Aye: 4 — Borno, Fletcher, Parsons, Woods Nay: 1- Daugherty MOTION CARRIED Commissioner Fletcher • Asked Mr. Jensen, regarding the withdrawal of the temporary injunction in the litigation RCBS vs. et al, if the reason was because the sewer line will be directionally drilled. Mr. Jensen explained that was one of the reasons. Commissioner Fletcher asked what changed between May 10, 2010 when the City determined we were going to go with directional drilling and August 31, 2010 when they filed the suit and when they withdrew. Mr. Jensen stated he doesn't like to discuss pending litigation, but more information and documents became available to make the plaintiffs understand what their chances of getting an injunction were. Commissioner Woods • While driving by the Dog Park she noticed it looks good. She stated she also drove through the Royal Palms neighborhood, which is really looking a lot nicer. She stated everyone should be proud of the work that has been done over there. • Announced there will be an Inspirational Concert for Change at Donner Park on March 26. She stated it will include a job fair, music, games, and a voter registration drive and urged the Commission to attend. • Regarding Item 10B, she stated you are not supposed to have anything to vote on that is not in writing when you get to the Commission meeting and suggested in the future they be in writing before they get to the meeting so everybody will be aware of what's going on. • Regarding UNF's offer to develop a relationship with their Department of Government Studies, asked if the Commission wanted to proceed with a research thesis concerning the impact of the nuclear carrier at Mayport. She stated if they do not, the Director has informed her that he would appreciate Atlantic Beach's participation but it can be done just through her, not using any City resources. She stated she would like to invite the Commission to come along because she believes it would be a better project for the student and better results for the City but if they don't want to get involved at this time she understands. She stated she plans on going ahead with helping with this on her own. March 14, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 10 Commissioner Daugherty • Stated he believes Commissioner Woods is doing herself a disservice by not communicating with the City Manager and staff before meetings. He stated he believes it would make her much more effective in what she does and much better prepared. • Stated he spoke with Mr. Hanson about the internship and was of the understanding that Mr. Hanson was going to go forward with that. Mr. Hanson stated he was moving ahead with it. He stated, as he said at the last meeting, he believes it is entirely inappropriate for an elected official to be trying to do that and believes it would make for a very bad internship for someone in the MBA program to work with an elected official. He stated he did meet with the UNF MBA coordinator after the last meeting and he informed him of Commissioner Woods' various ideas for studies. He stated one of them made sense and wished he had heard about it from Commissioner Woods herself, but she won't speak with him or meet with him outside of the meetings. He stated that particular project has some merit and he has discussed it. He stated in that particular case he believes that could not be done without the complete cooperation of the Navy and he called some Navy contacts who indicated a willingness to support it. He stated he has a meeting scheduled with the person who is proposed to do the work and will try to evaluate it, but he believes they are able to do it. He stated he was proceeding ahead with it. Commissioner Daugherty asked Commissioner Woods if she still wanted to do that internship on her own as a private individual. Commissioner Woods stated, as she just stated, she would like to do it with the Commission and City involved but needed to know if they wanted to because up until now she had received very little indication they wanted to get involved. She stated it is up to the Commission now to decide. Commissioner Daugherty stated, once again, this would be a great thing that could have taken place at the meeting with the City Manager and they could have had a report on it. He stated he knows Commissioner Woods has her reasons but asked her to reconsider, stating she does not have to agree with everything Mr. Hanson says or does, but at least communicate and use the vehicle that is in place to do what they have to do. Commissioner Parsons • Asked that, in the future, he would like to see the workshops not be in conflict with other city meetings they have going on, if they can. • Looked at the results of the River Run and the first place person came in at 42 minutes and they interviewed him for a good 15 minutes but he never saw Mr. Hanson run in behind him and he is terribly disappointed in his performance Saturday. Laughter followed. Mayor Borno • Stated they need to understand that when they do things they are supposed to set policy and it is up to staff to carry out policy. He stated he believes what they have going on right now, with the suggestion at the last meeting about the internship, they are not supposed to be getting down in the nitty gritty part. He stated action had been started by the City Manager so he would encourage that March 14, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 11 they let that take place and the Commission not get involved because it will come back to them for other things. Adjournment There being no further discussion, the Mayor declared the meeting adjourned at 7:28 P.m. Azzc, " Mike Borno, Mayor/Presiding Officer ATTEST: 1 2 a/ ddi Donna L. Bartle, CMC City Clerk