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10-19-11 Public Meeting v MINUTES OF THE PUBLIC MEETING OF CURRENT ATLANTIC BEACH CITY COMMISSION AND NEWLY ELECTED COMMISSION MEMBERS HELD IN THE COMMISSION CHAMBER ON OCTOBER 19, 2011 AT 3:00 PM City Commission Members present: None Newly Elected Commission Members present: Mark Beckenbach Maria Mark Staff present: Nancy Bailey, Recording Secretary The meeting, which was held for the purpose of discussing City business and expressing ideas, was called to order at 3:00 p.m. Ms. Mark welcomed the citizens in attendance and stated Commissioner Woods would not be able to attend. Mr. Beckenbach stated Commissioner Daugherty and Mayor Borno also would not be in attendance. Mr. Beckenbach reported on an email he received from Bill Mayhew regarding pension funds, stating Mr. Mayhew wanted to come to a meeting in early November to discuss defined benefit plans vs. defined contribution plans. He suggested asking Human Resource Manager George Foster to come to that meeting as well for a discussion. He explained that Mr. Foster taught a course on Defined Benefit vs. Defined Contribution Plans. He stated he has a handout from that course and will distribute a copy to Ms. Mark. He further stated City Manager Jim Hanson had stated he was going to get all of the Commissioners together and bring in certain speakers as well, but he wanted Ms. Mark and himself to get more involved prior to that meeting so they would be more knowledgeable. Ms. Mark stated she thought that would be a good idea. Discussion ensued as to the content and format of that meeting. Ms. Mark and Mr. Beckenbach agreed to have this meeting in early November. Ms. Mark discussed the logistics for coordinating the town hall meetings, stating the first of the year would be a good time to start these meetings. Mr. Beckenbach suggested putting an announcement in the newsletter outlining the format for the meetings. Ms. Mark agreed, stating they should begin setting the dates now. Mr. Beckenbach stated on our website citizens can put their email in for something specific, such as the Town Hall meetings, and they will be sent information. Ms. Mark further explained to the audience the Notify Me section on our website. Mr. Beckenbach stated they should check with the other Commissioners for dates for the town hall meetings. Ms. Mark stated she would send an email out to them for their feedback and input on the dates. She stated they will also need to send flyers out to the neighborhoods alerting them of these meetings. Ms. Mark reported on the Florida League of Cities workshop for newly elected officials which she and Mr. Beckenbach just attended. Mr. Beckenbach agreed this was very informative and reported on his discussions with others at the workshop, regarding 911 dispatch and pension options. Mr. Beckenbach and Ms. Mark discussed the possibility of the City of Jacksonville taking over the 911 dispatch operation. Minutes October 19, 2011 Page 2 Mr. Beckenbach stated he discussed open government with City Clerk Donna Bartle who expressed to him that we already do have open government. He stated they also discussed possible meeting time and format changes for Commission meetings. He stated the Charter currently states the Commission only has to meet once a month. Ms. Mark stated she was in favor of adding the workshop element to the first Commission meeting of the month. Discussion ensued regarding changing the two monthly Commission meetings to one Commission meeting and one Commission Workshop meeting per month. Kirk Hansen, 2393 Ocean Breeze Court, spoke as a stockholder of Selva Marina, explaining there has been a lot of conversation the last few months about the finances of Selva Marina and stockholders have put in a lot of hard work and taken a lot initiative to try to recapitalize the Club. He stated they are running into one inhibitor right now because there are a lot of people who have the idea that the City may step in and do something to save the Club. He stated that is inhibiting some people's thought process as far as taking the initiative themselves to join what a lot of the stockholders are doing to get the Club recapitalized. He requested that if the City has an intention to do something for Selva Marina Country Club that the City state it in a very concrete way or if they don't, state that in a very concrete way also so people won't be looking at this as something that is in the offing and question why they should jump in now. He stated something could happen to Selva if the stockholders don't take the initiative they are taking now and it is not helpful to have it out there that the City might be doing something, unless they really are. He also stated that Selva Marina could use the treated wastewater for the Country Club's irrigation purposes and if there is something the City could do to help them get that reclaimed water it would be a tremendous advantage to them. Mike Post, 307 Beach Avenue, stated he has instituted, purely as a shareholder of Selva Marina, a program for the shareholders. He believes there has been an attitude that Selva is going under and it is well founded. He stated the numbers are very simple; they owe $3.5 million with a $2 +million loan that is coming due in March 31, 2012. He stated they would like to encourage the shareholders to pay $125 /month which could pay off the mortgage in five years. He further discussed the possibilities of the City taking Selva Marina over which he believes has not been thought through, or Selva Marina partnering with Atlantic Beach through municipal bonds, stating his reasons why he also does not believe this would work. He stated the shareholders owe the debt and they should pay it. He stated he does not know where this idea that the City is going to do something came from but it needs to be clarified that either something concrete is coming or that nothing is happening because it is hard enough to keep people focused. He stated the City would help them by letting them know what they are going to do. Both Mr. Beckenbach and Ms. Mark stated they have no knowledge of the City taking over Selva Marina. Pat Brennan, 2042 Cherokee Drive, Neptune Beach, President of Selva Marina, explained what has triggered the rumors was a letter to the editor coupled with an email that was sent later. He asked that the Commission have a discussion on this and state whether or not they can do something. He stated having this dangling out there is the worst thing that can happen. Mike Post stated he would be willing to write a letter to the editor stating there is nothing pending with the City. Minutes Page 3 October 19, 2011 Ms. Mark stated if there is an opportunity to partner in the future she would be open to that discussion, but as far as the City taking it over, that is just citizens' wishes. She pointed out that the majority of the golf course is in Jacksonville. She stated, not speaking on behalf of the Commission, but from what she knows, personally, there has not been any formal discussion about what action the City is going to take. Mr. Beckenbach stated he did receive an email when he was running for office saying that he should consider looking at Selva Marina. He stated he did call Westport but beyond that they are not in a position to make any decision on looking at that as a potential. He stated in the long run he would be curious to find out if the City and Selva could form some type of a partnership. Ms. Mark stated when they have these meetings in the future, they should allow the public to speak at the beginning of the meeting as well as at the end of the meetings if they have follow -up comments. Ms. Mark asked Mr. Beckenbach if he planned to bring up the motion when seated regarding the change for the meeting format. He stated either he or she could do that but he has several motions he will be bringing up. He stated he will make a motion regarding putting the Police Station on hold until they can review it more. Ms. Mark discussed the time change to 7:00 and wanted to have it on the agenda for discussion. Mr. Beckenbach will ask the City Clerk if they can put an item on the agenda on November 14. Discussion ensued regarding the next meeting to have an informational presentation by Bill Mayhew and George Foster on pensions. The meeting was tentatively scheduled for November 2 at 3:00 p.m. Mr. Beckenbach stated he will contact Mr. Mayhew to see if he is available and will also explain to Mr. Foster what he would like him to discuss at this meeting. There being no further discussion, the meeting was adjourned at 4:24 p.m. Nancy E. Ba' ey Recording Secretary