7-13-13 Minutes Minutes of Town Hall Meeting
Saturday,July 13,2013
Present: Mayor Pro Tern Maria Mark
Commissioner Carolyn Woods
Commissioner Jonathan Daugherty
City Manager Jim Hanson
Approximately 15 citizens attended(sign-in sheets available)
Mayor Pro Tem Mark called the meeting to order in the Donner Community Center at 10 am. She
welcomed the citizens and invited their comments about any city related subject.
Comments and discussions are summarized as follows:
• Crime along the Mayport Corridor was the first concern. One resident was concerned about drunks,
people sleeping at the location of the old Fred Saloon,gangs of young men roaming around in the 1 am
to 2 am timeframe and people looking in their windows at night if they did not keep their curtains closed.
• Mr. Selby was opposed to the landscape medians on Mayport Road as well as the Mayport Flyover. He
stated it was hard to turn around and that the project had"killed"businesses. He wanted the City to take
down the flyover.
• Jimmy Hill was also opposed to the Mayport medians. He wanted"holes cut at key streets". There was a
general discussion about the value of the Mayport medians as well as the involvement in design and
construction by the FDOT.
• Mr. Reeves suggested a meeting be held with the FDOT concerning the medians. He also stated that the
Commission was acting like a"homeowners association"and"against everything",but not taking
ownership of problems. He stated that the police station was one example.
• Mrs. Brown indicated that she favored videotaping of public meetings, which was also supported by
Jimmy Hill.
• Mr. Hill said that the City's action in establishing certain parks had contributed to the crime problem
because some of the more remote parks acted as crime magnets. He specifically said that prostitutes had
used them and suggested that the City use the park rangers for more supervision. He supported putting a
house on the largest remote park(Dutton Island)for a City employee to live in. He went on to say that he
favored community parks like Donner which were active, but not parks like Tideviews which had more
crime problems.
• Steve Fouraker stated he was happy with the City's plan to install a single-camera system for videotaping
of the commission meetings.
• Michael Hoffman was concerned about pedestrian bicycle safety. He wanted to lower the speed limit on
Mayport Road as well as lower the speed limits for all other streets in the City to 20 MPH.
• Commissioner Daugherty said he favored speed bumps on city streets. However,there was a following
discussion with several members in the audience who were opposed to speed bumps and preferred other
options like rumble strips that would not damage cars that went over them.
• Ray Brown said he was concerned about the City's finances. Specifically, he wanted the City to put more
of the charges into taxes as opposed to fees.
• Jimmy Hill said that he thought that the City representatives at the meeting did not have open minds. He
stated that there had been too much money spent on studies and public planning. He favored letting the
staff make the decisions without using consultants.
•One citizen indicated a frustration with the lack of progress on the proposed project to install a fountain in
the pond between 4th and 5th Street on Mayport Road. Michael Hoffman,who is involved in the project,
explained the current status to him.
• Steve Fouraker indicated in response to the numerous issues raised that"government is not easy"and that
plans for the police station had not yet been finalized because there had not yet been a good enough plan
put forth.
•Jimmy Hill stated that he thought the City was often in a defensive mode when people are listening to
citizen complaints.
• Mike Hampton, who lives on Begonia Street had several complaints. The first was about his yard
flooding during rain storms. Second,he received a citation for parking his boat in the front yard and third,
that there is a"habitat home"that was not far from his house that had tall grass and weeds in the front yard.
He wanted the City to change the Code to allow for boats in the front yard. Last he complained that there
were two boats in City ditches on the side of the Dagley junk yard that were blocking the drainage.
• There was a general discussion among the group about the proposed wastewater reuse system and the
Selva Marina Golf Course project. Commissioners explained why the City was involved in the project.
• Sally Clemens talked about plans for a possible roundabout at the five points intersection,the speed limits
on her street and boats in the front yard.
•Jimmy Hill wanted to be able to have public input from the citizens at commission meetings at the time
that each subject was discussed. He said that he understood that, if elected as a city commissioner,the
meetings would"last much longer". Mr. Hill said he also favored letting all registered trailers be parked in
front yards.
• Steve Fouraker was concerned about people blocking City streets with parking on both sides. He was
advised to call the police department when this happens.
Meeting was adjourned at 12:00 pm.
Jim Han n Maria D. Mar
City nager Mayor Pro Tem