04-22-17 Miunutes Town Hall Meeting vCITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH
TOWN HALL MEETING
APRIL 22, 2017 at 10: 00 AM
STAFF:IN ATTENDANCE:
Mayor Mitch Reeves Interim City Manager Kevin Hogencamp
Commissioner Jimmy Hill Human Resource Director, Cathy Berry
Commissioner Mitch Harding City Planner Derek Reeves
Commissioner Blythe Waters (Absent) Recording Secretary, Joanie Bowman
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Reeves called the meeting to order at 10: 02 am.
WELCOME
Mayor Reeves explained the purpose of this Town Hall Meeting and thanked staff and the citizens
for taking time out of their Saturday to attend the meeting.
Mayor Reeves explained the process for public comments.
Mayor Reeves introduced Interim City Manager Hogencamp to open the meeting.
Interim City Manager Kevin Hogencamp spoke about issues with the Tree Protection Ordinance.
He informed them that City Planner Derek Reeves was there to answer questions and will follow
up with information.
COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC
Mayor Reeves opened the floor to public comments.
Susanne Barker, 1938 Beachside Ct., spoke about concerns with the permitting process not being
followed out and would like to see that process brought back.
Jane Wiska 352 2" St., spoke about her perception of what happened to the Tree Board and
believed it was a result of the private property rights and that was the reason they did away with
all of these protections.
Mayor Reeves mentioned he introduced the Beautification Committee to come back, to include
trees and parks. He explained the Beautification Committee is possibly going to recommend a
Tree Board.
Gretchen Deters-Murray,346 Magnolia St., spoke about her concern of how they plan to cover
this if there is a shortage of staff
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City Manager Hogencamp explained Derek now has the resources to move forward as they have
added a part-time employee and plan to hire a full-time person to start sometime in May.
Lori Schwab, 541 Sherry Dr., spoke about the previous Atlantic Beach Preservation Tree Board
that they had in the past and how well it worked and her concern with the developers cutting down
too many trees. She suggested we have something in place that will continue after this Mayor and
Commission, so that our trees are protected.
Lisa Harrell, 659 Sherry Dr., is concerned about the pervious surface ordinance and whether it
is being followed. She is also concerned with enforcement of our codes and ordinances.
Commissioner Hill spoke about the Tree Protection Ordinance and the Beautification Committee
that they have in place to protect our trees.
Mayor Reeves explained they are changing policy and things are going to start improving.
Interim City Manager explained he believed the pervious surface ordinance was being
administered properly and would research that.
Ellen Glasser, 2060 Beach Ave., concerned the meeting was getting off track and stated she did
not think that the Beautification Natural Resources Advisory Committee is the magic bullet and it
did not appear to her that the direction they are going, is going to give them any teeth. She spoke
about the Tree Canopy and the issues with staff but said she appreciates City Planner Derek and
what a good job he does for the City.
Mayor Reeves explained the Beautification Committee is only an advisory committee and is in
place only to come back with subjective advice.
Ellen Glasser, 2060 Beach Ave., spoke about the impervious surface ratio and believes an audit
is an excellent idea.
Interim City Manager Hogencamp stated he believed an audit had been done.
Mayor Reeves spoke about an on-site audit regarding impervious surface.
Commissioner Hill spoke about issues with impervious surface.
Ellen Glasser, 2060 Beach Ave., suggested it may be helpful to the Beautification and Natural
Resource Advisory Committee if they have a recommendation on creating or re-enacting the Tree
Board.
Mayor Reeves stated the Advisory Committee is aware of the request to form a Tree Board and
discussed it at their last meeting.
City Planner Derek Reeves stated Public Works handled the audit and spoke about the percentages
of impervious surfaces and the issues with unpermitted work.
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Mayor Reeves spoke about the permit violations and fines.
Commissioner Hill spoke about the issues with the tree ordinance and tree replacement when a
tree is taken down and suggested that they make tree replacement significant.
City Planner Derek Reeves spoke about tree and building permits and the penalty fees.
Ellen Glasser, 2060 Beach Ave., spoke about reporting offenders operating without a permit to
the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
Commissioner Hill stated most offenders are people flipping houses and not contractors.
Mayor Reeves inquired if there was a form on our website to file a complaint or report a violation
about our City.
Interim City Manager Hogencamp informed everyone there is a drop down item on the website
that is called the Citizen Request Tracker where you can file a city complaint.
City Planner Derek Reeves spoke about tree permitting and stated that they do not require a permit
for all tree removal. He stated approximately half of the removal in the City does not require a
permit. You are only required to get a permit if you are doing construction $ 10,000 or more or
removing a legacy tree. These are trees that are twenty inches or larger that are providing the most
canopy or most shade. He explained just because you see removal going on, does not mean they
are required to have a permit and there is probably a fifty percent chance they were not required
to have one. If they are clear cutting a lot and building a new home then in that case they would.
By code they should have a permit posted. City Planner Reeves stated they do an inspection at the
end to verify that what they remove is what they said they were going to, nothing more, and that
they put in the mitigation they are required to do. He explained that a permit has been applied for
on 825 Sherry Street but has not been issued. They requested to remove four palms on their permit
for water oaks within their application and submitted a letter from a certified arborist for those that
were rotting and decaying. So when a certified arborist provides reason for removal of a tree under
legitimate conditions, we allow it. If we question it we can hire our own arborist to do so.
Mayor Reeves inquired about the $10,000.00 tree grant and how it was being spent.
City Planner Derek Reeves explained part of that grant was used to hire a consultant to do a survey
of our major arterials and identified the existing trees but also sites that are vacant, where a tree
could go. We have not done any plans on new plantings. We have the funds available to do that,
we just need to start that process at some point.
A discussion ensued about developers and contractors hiring an arborist versus using the City' s
arborist.
Commissioner Hill expressed the importance of maintaining the canopy and the character of the
neighborhood.
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Commissioner Stinson stated if we want to encourage developers to build around trees and perhaps
build smaller structures is find ways to incentivize them with faster permitting, perhaps utility
reductions for five years that they can pass on to the end user.
A citizen suggested education as a component and offer information on the tree code.
Sally Clemens, 1638 Park Terrace W., inquired about additions and remodeling pertaining to
permitting.
City Planner Derek Reeves stated anytime you are doing a major renovation to your property we
want the trees included in that.
Citizens' inquired about the racism issues occurring in the City of Atlantic Beach.
The Commission and Mr. Hogencamp discussed the complaints that were made against the City
and explained that the allegations would be given their full attention.
A citizen inquired about the status of the Public Works Director.
Interim City Manager explained the Public Works Director resigned this week and they have
divided the Public Works Department into two different departments; the Public Works
Department and the Public Utilities Department. Mr. Hogencamp stated the Interim City Manager
Scott Williams is leading our Public Works and Kale Moore is leading our Public Utilities
Department.
A citizen inquired about the status of the City Manager position.
Interim City Manager Hogencamp explained by late May or early June they will be introduced to
three to five finalists for the position, will interview the finalists and hope to extend an offer to
someone at that time.
Mayor Reeves inquired about the status of the Police Chief position.
Interim City Manager Hogencamp explained they will be interviewing candidates in the next
couple of weeks, pending a criminal background check and other due diligence and will make an
offer shortly thereafter.
Mayor Reeves reported the Public Safety Building is coming along and should be opening
sometime in May.
Interim City Manager Hogencamp thanked the Commission and the citizens and stated that they
cannot do this without them.
A citizen mentioned the front reception and the police department do not communicate very well
and was unaware that you have to dial a 9 before dialing out.
Commissioner Harding thanked the citizens for coming out and getting involved. It takes
community involvement to know what your issues are.
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Commissioner Hill thanked the citizens for their time and energy towards the community and said
that is what makes Atlantic Beach what it is. He expressed these meetings are really productive
for him to see and hear things that are almost always positive.
Commissioner Stinson restated it is a pleasure to work for citizens and commented on the pervious
and impervious question that was raised. He expressed that the citizens input is always appreciated
and is honored to serve them.
A citizen inquired as to when another Town Hall meeting regarding the pervious and impervious
surface issue would take place.
Mayor Reeves explained they are always open to have meetings with specific topics of interest
and thanked everyone for attending this meeting.
Interim City Manager Hogencamp informed everyone that the Beautification and Natural Resource
Advisory Committee will meet at 6: 30 this Thursday, April 27th in the Commission Chamber.
Mayor Reeves encouraged the citizens to come out Monday night to the Commission meeting.
A citizen commented she sings with the Heritage Singers of Jacksonville on April 30th at 4:00 p.m.
at Palms Presbyterian and the theme is color.
Commissioner Stinson mentioned Acoustic Nights that will be held tomorrow, April 23rd at 6: 30
p.m. at Bull Park.
Mayor Reeves adjourned the meeting at 11: 50 a.m.
Mitchell E. Reeves
Mayor/Presiding Officer
ATTEST:
Donna L. Bartle, CMC
City Clerk
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