7-9-12 Workshop MINUTES OF THE WORKSHOP OF ATLANTIC BEACH CITY COMMISSION
HELD IN THE COMMISSION CHAMBER ON JULY 9, 2012
City Commission Members present:
Mike Borno, Mayor
Maria Mark, Mayor Pro Tem
Mark Beckenbach, Commissioner
Jonathan Daugherty, Commissioner
Carolyn Woods, Commissioner
Staff present:
Jim Hanson, City Manager
Donna L. Bartle, City Clerk
Nancy E. Bailey, Recording Secretary
The meeting, which was held for the purpose of discussing Community Visioning, was called to
order at 5:00 p.m. by Mayor Borno.
Mayor Borno discussed the Suwanee visioning plan stating they had some good groupings that
should be considered for Atlantic Beach.
Commissioner Mark asked if everyone had had a chance to read the draft RFP /scope of work she
sent to the Commission. She stated she gives the City of Suwanee credit for this because she took it
from them and adapted it for Atlantic Beach. None of the Commissioners stated they had received
this. City Clerk Bartle copied this handout for the Commission. Commissioner Mark summarized
this community visioning program as set out in the scope of work, stating this is citizen driven. She
stated the specific areas that they identified in strategic planning as what they wanted to focus on
included integration of Atlantic Beach West, pedestrian/biking safety, commercial development,
revitalization, town center parking, developing our community leaders, Marsh Master Plan
integration, parks and open space, and the police and public safety building. Discussion ensued.
City Manager Hanson introduced Lesley Resnick -Ward, the new Redevelopment and Zoning
Coordinator, stating her position encompasses a portion of Sonya Doerr's old position as well as a
portion of Dale Hatfield's. He explained she would be the staff person who would work with the
consultant on this.
Mr. Hanson further explained the visioning process, stating he doesn't believe Commissioner Mark's
intent is to focus on a specific area but rather a broader approach to the community. Discussion
ensued.
Commissioner Woods stated this is a big task and although she wants this to bring the City together
she has some apprehensions about it, relating it to the FAR process in the past which became
horribly political and divided the community. She stated she believes they need to really scrutinize
the RFP and the Commission should be involved in choosing the facilitator. She stated she believes
they should also have some kind of motto for this process. She concluded that they need to get
started but they need to make sure they do it right.
Commissioner Daugherty stated he is against paying an outside firm to do this and asked how this is
different from strategic planning. He stated had he been on the prevailing side he would ask that it
be reconsidered. He stated he believes we have just hired staff who will be capable of doing this
without hiring someone from the outside. He asked Commissioner Mark what is the added value of
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doing this beyond their strategic planning and what are the reasonable expectations that they can get
500 people to a meeting.
Commissioner Mark further explained what she sees coming from this visioning process. Discussion
ensued.
Commissioner Beckenbach stated he sees this visioning process similar to the visioning process for
the Marsh Master Plan. He stated he believes they should progress but he has no problem with
slowing this down. He suggested having more town hall meetings to find out if the citizens want us
to continue to pursue this. He stated he would like to hear from the citizens in attendance tonight.
Mayor Borno stated a visioning process is long -term, it is not a wish list, it is needs. He stated if it is
not looked at that way and is not put in a priority structure, it is of no value. He further stated if they
think this visioning process is an attempt to be all things to all people, it is going to fail. He stated
the decision is not with the citizens on whether to do a visioning, it is up to the Commission. He
stated the citizen's input is vital in the visioning process but not at this point. He stated he believes
they need to come to some consensus as to what they want to do tonight.
Mr. Hanson stated every City that does this takes 6 -8 months or more. He stated they are several
months into their two -year term as a City Commission and if this can get done in time for next year's
strategic planning then they can utilize some of it during the remaining term of office. He stated as
of next summer they are going to be looking at having other people sitting here. He stated if new
Commissioners come in after this is adopted they will feel like this is someone else's plan, so if they
are going to get something accomplished with it he would suggest they get about doing it as quickly
as possible. Commissioner Beckenbach stated his understanding of the way this will go is that the
citizens are going to make the decisions as far as which way we are going to go, and if the citizens
are making that then it shouldn't matter who is up here. Discussion ensued.
Mayor Borno opened the floor to the audience.
Michael Fogg, 266 Plaza, stated Atlantic Beach is developed and agreed that this could be done
internally for a lot less than $75,000. He read and distributed the community visioning plan he
prepared for Atlantic Beach, which he stated took him about 45 minutes to complete.
William Brickman, 307 9 Street, spoke in favor of community visioning, stating if you don't
know where you are going you will just waste money. He stated they should engage the citizens to
find that final destination.
Ray Brown, 523 Clipper Ship Lane, stated you cannot use the Marsh Master Plan as an example of
something that worked really good when you are going to look at an entire City and multiple
subjects. He stated if you put something in the visioning plan that he doesn't like, he is against it.
He stated one subject is easy but when you take a broad scope, it isn't. He agrees that Atlantic
Beach is developed, it is matured, what are you going to change. He directed to Commissioner
Beckenbach that citizens don't vote; we vote for you and you vote for what we want and he doesn't
always agree with him.
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Mark Tomaski, 448 Snapping Turtle Court West, thanked them for allowing him to speak stating
when they allow citizens to speak there is much less stress. He stated he would like to see them
alternate meetings with workshops which gives them time to breathe and think. He stated he thinks
of the visioning as proactive vs. reactive giving the Marsh Master Plan as an example of proactive
and the police station as an example of reactive.
Joe Laretta, 930 1 Avenue S., Jacksonville Beach, discussed what he believed were the downfalls
for the Jacksonville Beach visioning plan. He further stated there are good local firms that could be
brought in for the vision plan and asked that they consider the local firms.
Clare Holland, 339 19th Street, agreed with Commissioner Woods regarding the issue of politics.
She stated the Commission keeps changing over time and what they need to remember is there is a
difference between an end destination and the means to get there, strategy vs. tactics. She stated she
believes the Commission is a wonderful organization which can arrange the building blocks but they
need to know what the overall map is supposed to look like and if that changes from Commission to
Commission then they get into trouble because they keep shifting directions. She stated that our
country is very politically divided and part of that is because we don't have a sufficient vision of
where it is supposed to be.
It was the consensus of the Commission to continue with the visioning program and work to develop
an RFP. He asked that Commissioner Mark work with staff so they can get something in the agenda
so the Commission can review it and make any changes to it. Commissioner Woods stated she
believes staff should have conversations with all of the Commission during the process of putting the
RFP together. Mayor Borno stated he was sure staff is willing to do that. Commissioner Mark
stated she would hope that the Commissioners would be proactive and contact staff if they want to
give their input and would encourage them to do this as soon as they can so staff can start putting
this together. Commissioner Daugherty asked how involved will our new employee be in this.
Mayor Borno stated she will be very involved.
There being no further discussion, Mayor Borno declared the meeting adjourned at 6:16 p.m.
Nancy E. Bailey
Recording Secretary