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08-25-99 vCITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH 800 SEMINOLE ROAD SPECIAL CALLED MEETING WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 1999 6:00 PM AGENDA Call to order 0 1. Discussion and possible action concerning possible litigation with regard to the Mayport Road/Atlantic Boulevard flyover 2. Any other business Adjournment MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL CALLED MEETING OF ATLANTIC BEACH CITY COMMISSION, HELD IN CITY HALL AT 6:00 PM ON WEDNESDAY AUGUST 25, 1999. Present: Suzanne Shaughnessy, Mayor Richard Beaver, Commissioner Mike Borno, Commissioner John Meserve, Commissioner Theo Mitchelson, Commissioner Also: Alan Jensen, City Attorney Maureen King, City Clerk David Thompson, City Manager The meeting was called to order by Mayor Shaughnessy. 1.Discussion and possible action concerning possible litigation with regard to the Mayport Road/Atlantic Boulevard flyover Commissioner Meserve moved to cease spending any further tax dollars on legal fees concerning the flyover design on Mayport Road. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Beaver. Commissioner Meserve said, in his opinion, the documents submitted by the attorney indicated that the city did not have a very strong case. He expressed concern regarding some of the comments made by Don Wolfson to the City Commission on August 9, 1999, which, he said, conflicted with comments made to him by representatives of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority(JTA). He said he called the JTA the following day to clarify any misunderstandings and was satisfied that the JTA had not misrepresented the facts. He read into the record a letter from Miles Francis, Executive Director of the JTA, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit A. He believed the engineers had presented all the designs and the JTA had determined that the flyover was the best solution at an affordable price, and he felt it would be a waste of money to go to litigation. He felt the intersection should be improved, and he hoped we could work with the JTA to make it as beautiful as possible. With regards to the third paragraph on page two of Mr. Francis' letter, Mayor Shaughnessy said that the JTA did not stop the design process at her request, but was stopped after the joint meeting which had been held with the Neptune Beach elected officials and the JTA. Commissioner Beaver referenced sections of the materials which he had received from the attorney, which he felt, indicated the city did not have a strong case. He felt money spent on a legal case would not be money well spent. Commissioner Beaver said he had received more telephone calls on this subject than on any other, and almost all of callers were opposed to initiating litigation. Page Two Minutes - Special Called Meeting August 25, 1999 With reference to the letter from the JTA, Commissioner Borno said he did not think Don Wolfson had accused the JTA of using the words"placebo" or "red herring." He said he felt the intersection did need improvement, but he did not feel that the proposed flyover was the best solution. Commissioner Mitchelson said he was already on record as being opposed to the flyover. He did not feel it would do what it is supposed to do. He said he had suggested shutting down the intersection and doing a test to see if the flyover would help the traffic flow, but the JTA was not willing to do so. However, he did not feel that proceeding with a law suit would be in the best interest of the community. The Mayor then invited comments from the floor. J.P. Marchioli, 414 Sherry Drive, said he did not feel the flyover would improve the intersection. He said that no comment had been made regarding the width of the flyover and he did not feel that one lane would be sufficient to improve traffic flow. He felt that the flyover would be more of a problem than a solution and said the project would eventually cost $22 million. Michael Hoffman, 176 Camelia Street, said he was opposed to spending any money needlessly. He said he had talked to between 125 and 130 people in Section H and he said that without any solicitation from him, about one-fifth of those had indicated they had a problem with the project. He noted that the berms proposed by the JTA were three meters high, and he had hoped they would be much higher. He also expressed concern regarding the noise and indicated he had spoken with JTA and had asked them to put in some kind of sound mitigation as a first step in construction. He said he felt his views were representative of his neighborhood. Pat Pillmore, 905 Camelia Street, was concerned that Section H would become a boxed-in neighborhood and hoped some consideration would be given to this area during construction. She suggested the Police Department conduct a traffic study before construction begins to determine the best traffic routes for Section H residents. Ms. Pillmore agreed with earlier comments regarding noise abatement and said that while the area has a heavy tree canopy, there is currently considerable noise from traffic on Atlantic Boulevard, and she felt the flyover would make it worse. She felt that the existing overpass would have to be replaced and that part of the project should be done before the flyover. She also felt that consideration of the Mayport flyover should have been postponed pending construction of the Wonderwood Connector which, she felt, would change traffic patterns in the area. Page Three Minutes - Special Called Meeting August 25, 1999 Mayor Shaughnessy reported that she had only received three negative calls during the entire time that the flyover has been an issue. She said she felt responsible to the citizens of all areas of Atlantic Beach and she found unacceptable the fact that the JTA wanted to wall off Section H. She felt the flyover had unacceptable impacts on the quality of life for Atlantic Beach residents and would divert commercial traffic into residential neighborhoods. She agreed that the intersection needed to be unproved, but she did not feel that this was the only option available to the JTA. She felt the design was injurious to the community and deserved heightened scrutiny before the City should agree to this project. She felt that the flyover was being forced on this conununity and pointed out that elected officials in Atlantic Beach and Neptune Beach had voted 8 - 2 in opposition to the flyover. The Mayor also concurred that Mr. Wolfson never credited a JTA staff member with words such as "placebo" or "red herring." She felt that there was much that could have been improved by the JTA regarding this project, and cited specifically, that the design of the bridge should have been made available much sooner. The Mayor felt the Legislature had created a bureaucracy which was very powerful and had almost no checks and balances. The Mayor said she did not know if the construction of Wonderwood Connector, by itself, would improve the traffic flow for Atlantic Beach, but she felt that the combination of the two projects would bring increased traffic and congestion. The Mayor agreed with Ms. Pillmore's suggestion that a traffic study be undertaken, and said the city would try to do everything possible regarding noise abatement. The Mayor said that the letter from the attorney indicated the city had grounds for legal action, however, she felt it would be difficult to prove abuse of discretion. The City Attorney concurred. The Mayor said that she did not fund the letter very encouraging and while she would like to fight the flyover with every tool at her disposal, she did not feel we should proceed with legal action at this point. Commissioner Meserve agreed with Mr. Hoffman and Ms. Pillmore that the city needed to work with the JTA to make sure that whatever goes in is as good as it can be for the residents of Section H. He said that all the time and energy with respect to this project, had been focused on design, and he felt that if the motion passed the city should work with the JTA regarding sound mitigation. Commissioner Meserve said that Miles Francis had indicated the JTA would be willing to work with the City regarding sound mitigation and beautification, and he should be contacted as soon as possible. With respect to Ms. Pillmore's comments regarding the impact of the Wonderwood Corridor, Commissioner Meserve pointed out that Wonderwood had been taken into account in the traffic projections. He also pointed out the existing overpass has been deemed to be structurally sound and will not be considered for replacement for 15 - 20 years. He felt it was important to defend the Page Four Minutes - Special Called Meeting August 25, 1999 interests of the Section H residents, not only during the construction of the flyover, but also during the improvements to Atlantic Boulevard and the construction of the new span over the Intracoastal Waterway. Commissioner Mitchelson felt the City Commission needed a unanimous and unified effort to proceed along the lines that Mr. Hoffman and Ms. Pillmore had outlined and work to soften the impact of the construction on the lives of the residents who will be most affected by the project. He also agreed that a study should be undertaken to see what actions, if any, might assist the flow of traffic in that area. He also suggested the City engage in an effort to relocate the retention pond which is currently proposed for an area which has beautiful oak trees. Commissioner Mitchelson said he also recognized the need for an active park in Section H, which the City Commission had been asked to consider in a recent petition from the residents, and hoped the City would pursue acquiring land for this purpose. The Mayor said she did not feel that the JTA had given a lot of thought to what the impact would be on the neighborhood, and while she had not found the JTA to be very flexible during discussions on this project, but she hoped they would be willing to work to lessen the impact on the residents of Section H. Pat Pillmore, said she felt JTA had not done a good job of communicating with the City. She said there needed to be more human contact between governmental agencies and urged the City Commission to continue with the law suit. The Mayor said that while she felt the JTA had abused their discretion, proving that in a court of law would be difficult. She felt based on the comments made by City Commissioners that it was not the will of the City Conunission to continue with a law suit. The Mayor called for a roll-call vote which carried unanimously with all Commissioners and the Mayor voting in favor of the motion. Following the vote, Commissioner Beaver said he agreed with the comments of Commissioners Meserve and Mitchelson regarding the need to fight for the rights of the Section H citizens. Since it appeared that the flyover was going to become a reality, he said he would like the City Commission to direct the City Manager to meet with JTA representatives to make sure that everything possible is done to make the project as palatable as possible for the citizens. Commissioner Mitchelson pointed out that the City Commission had adopted a resolution opposing the flyover. He suggested that a resolution be drafted itemizing the points which the City Commission feels would lessen the adverse impact of the project on the Section H Page Five 411) Minutes - Special Called Meeting August 25, 1999 community, and sit down again with the JTA with the express goal that they work with the City to lessen the impact to these citizens to the extent possible. The Mayor requested that Commissioner Mitchelson work with the City Clerk to draft such a resolution, following which the resolution should be reviewed by the City Attorney. Any other business: Mayor Shaughnessy inquired whether the company responsible for the landscaping in Town Center had begun their work. She commented she had noticed weeds in the Town Center Landscaping and also in the Atlantic Boulevard medians. The City Manager said the City did not have a contract with anyone for maintenance of the landscaping in Town Center and said he would check into the maintenance of the Atlantic Boulevard medians. The Mayor called a recess at 7:15 p.m. The Mayor reconvened the meeting at 7:40 p.m. and there being no further discussion or business to come before the City Commission, declared the meeting adjourned. 81A7n141-441.- ai..../4/11.4. rSUZANNESHAUJ1NESS Mayor/Presiding Officer ATTEST: MA REEN KIN Certified Municipal III EXHIBIT A Y 9046303166 T-632 P 02/03 F-835 MINUTES - AUGUST 25, 1999 MICHAEL D.STEWART Chairman JOHN S.PEYTON4-10i14111hi Vice Chairman CYNTHIA B.AUSTIN Secretary L HUEY R.HAWKINS JACKSONVILLE TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY MARK H.MAHON P.O.DRAWER 0 • 100 N.MYRTLE AVENUE • JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA 32203 DONALD R.McCLURE TELEPHONE 904/630-3181 FAX-630-3166 CAROL S.SPALDING MILES N.FRANCIS,JR. Executive Director August 25, 1999 The Honorable John Meserve Commissioner, City of Atlantic Beach 800 Seminole Road Atlantic Beach,Florida 32233 Dear John: It has been brought to our attention that Don Wolfson has made statements to members of the Atlantic Beach and Neptune Beach Commissions, and the public, of actions and statements made by JTA concerning various design alternatives regarding the Atlantic Bch./Mayport Rd. interchange improvement project. The JTA, in concert with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) developed eight possible alternative configurations to analyze relative to this project, with the intent of selecting the best possible configuration for all those traveling through this busy, failed intersection. Some of these were suggested by the FDOT, some by the design consultant hired by JTA to perform the work. A preliminary analysis was made of all eight alternatives. One alternative was dropped from the analysis process due to the initial information which determined it was not an appropriate solution. Upon completion of this preliminary evaluation, a public hearing was held at which time all alternatives were discussed and the consultant presented recommendations for the three final alternatives to continue studying. All of these alternatives were developed in an open process considering that each of them was at least possibly viable. We believe that a reasonable level of consideration was given to all of these alternatives and based on comments that the public gave, JTA allowed the consultant to proceed with a more detailed evaluation of the three selected alternatives. liAPollyMeserven dodrnoed by PolyCmwd on 0I1/23/99 3:59 PM PUTTING YOUR FUTURE IN MOTION Aug-25-99 05:47pm From-JACKSONVILLE TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY 9046303166 T-632 P 03/03 F-835 Commissioner John Meserve III 8/25/99 page 2 Mr. Wolfson was provided with documents prepared by the consultant summarizing their evaluation and selection process of all the alternatives. It has been alleged that the members of the JTA staff used the terms "placebo"and "red herring" in describing particular design alternatives. No one on my staff has used or would use such terms in describing engineering design concepts. As our project reports indicate, due consideration was given to all alternatives recommended for study. It should be clearly understood that the ITA held all required public hearings plus additional public meetings, as fully advertised, during which alterenative designs were presented and public comments were taken. All of the comments were properly reviewed by JTA staff including our consultant and modifications were made where appropriate. These reports were provided to Mr. Wolfson when he visited the Authority earlier this summer and also provided as part of the material available at our formal public meetings. These alternatives were discussed with technical staff of the FDOT, the City of Jacksonville engineering staff and representatives of the Beaches area. It also should be clearly understood that the JTA stopped its design process to again study design alternatives at the request of the Mayor of Atlantic Beach. After extensive study and review by FDOT and JTA staff, the alternatives were deemed inappropriate and unsafe because of the necessity of closing streets and forcing traffic into residential areas. IIIIn closing, I would like to point out that we have made significant changes in our design at the request of Atlantic and Neptune Beaches including noise abatement berms, relocation of retention ponds, access under the "flyover" at First St. and extensive landscaping, where possible. Sinceii ours,I / PIP 1• 1. ran Executive D or MNF/SL/pal H:Tony\Meee'ra12.&vacua by Pa1yda sd on 0145199 4.59 PM MINUTES OF ATLANTIC BEACH CITY COMMISSION BUDGET WORKSHOP HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS AT 7:45 PM ON WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 1999 Commission members present were the Mayor Shaughnessy and Commissioners Beaver, Borno, Meserve and Mitchelson. Staff members present were City Manager Thompson, Finance Director Van Liere, Public Works Director Bob Kosoy, Assistant Public Works Director Donna Kaluzniak, Police Chief John Campbell, Recreation Director Timmy Johnson, and City Clerk Maureen King. Mayor Shaughnessy called the meeting to order. The Finance Director presented a list of enhancements which had been suggested by the City Commission at the previous budget workshop, along with suggestions from the City Manager and the Recreation Board, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit A. Commissioners commented in turn, as follows: Commissioner Borno reviewed the items listed under his name and added: i) Improvements to the second block of Ocean Boulevard ii) utilizing wetlands Mayor Shaughnessy reviewed the items listed under her name and: i) Deleted Johnston Island development ii) Regarding Facilities Maintenance, the Mayor said she would like one person to be responsible for coordinating all building maintenance. The City Manager advised that building maintenance is included in department budgets but could be extracted and put in one account. He felt the Building Inspector would be the appropriate person to coordinate building maintenance. Commissioner Meserve reported regarding a master plan which had been developed by Fleet Landing and said he would like the City to develop a similar master plan. He felt this would add a lot of stability in future budgeting. It was suggested that $25,000 be budgeted for this purpose. Discussion ensued and it was agreed to try to shorten the individual lists to three items. At this time the Mayor called on DeJean Melancon who presented a revised proposal dated August 3, 1999, for Bull Park improvements and estimated the cost of of the improvements would be between$230,000- $240,000, plus design fee. He said the only major change from the original plans was that the playground equipment had been changed to metal instead of wood, and the"turn-down" curbing had been deleted. He recommended the City Commission budget $250,000 for the project. A copy of the revised proposal is attached as Exhibit B. Discussion ensued regarding the proposed improvements and it was noted that the City Commission had previously approved a budget of 234,000 for Bull Park improvements. Page Two Minutes - Budget Workshop August 25, 1999 Commissioner Borno said he would like to pursue the construction of an active park in Section H He pointed out a couple of sites which he felt might be appropriate and suggested that staff check with owners regarding the availability of those parcels. Commissioner Meserve said he would like to budget funds to assist property owners to connect to the city sewers. He felt the city could charge interest for such assistance and repayment could be included on utility bills. Discussion ensued and Commissioner Mitchelson pointed out that some of the items listed would be at no additional cost and others would be carried out by staff. The Mayor and Commissioner Borno both indicated they would like to budget funds for improvements to the second block of Ocean Boulevard, and it was agreed to budget an amount of 65,000 for this purpose. Commissioner Beaver supported the development of a soccer field and suggested a possible location on Levy Road. He said he would also like to see something done with Fraser Park and suggested the Beautification Committee and Cultural Arts Board come up with some ideas. He said he would like to develop a tree give-away program which would be funded through tree mitigation funds. The Mayor also, said she liked the idea of establishing an oak tree bank. Commissioner Beaver inquired as to the feelings of the City Commission regarding the possibility of purchasing the Pic 'N Save building. City Manager Thompson reported regarding various options which are currently being considered for that building. The City Commission then considered the items listed under"City Manager" and concurred with his request for an additional detective, two patrol officers and one-half records clerk. With regards to City Hall maintenance,the City Manager advised that it was his recommendation to replace the tiles in the lobby area, and to repaint the entire interior of the building. There was general consensus among the City Commission to delete the $10,000 requested for a pay and classification study. Discussion then ensued regarding the recommendations of the Parks and Recreation Board. The Mayor felt that more park programs were needed and Mr. Melancon suggested the City Commission budget the money, and programs be approved based on their merit. Following further discussion it was agreed to budget $25,000 for programs and events, with emphasis on programs, and let the Recreation Board present their recommendations regarding new programs. Commissioner Meserve said he would like to get a cost estimate for building a bulkhead at the drainage canal at City Hall, and include this in the budget. 410 Page Three Minutes - Budget Workshop August 25, 1999 Discussion ensued regarding the proposed Adele Grage Community Center feasibility study and it was felt that the suggested figure of$15,000, was excessive. It was suggested to also look into the feasibility of closing in the second floor of City Hall. The City Manager said that it was inconvenient for the Purchasing activities to be separated from the Finance Department and he felt the current situation was fraught with problems. He felt that centralization of these departments would be more convenient and efficient. Following further discussion it was agreed to budget $3,000 for this study, and to include in that figure a study of the feasibility of closing in the second floor in City Hall. Discussion ensued regarding Russell Park maintenance and Commissioner Beaver expressed some concern regarding Little League finances and said he would like to see an accounting of their resources. Other Commissioners concurred. The Mayor, however, felt the City should maintain the baseball fields since the fields belonged to the City. Discussion ensued regarding the use of CDBG funds and the City Manager said that the City Commission approved how the funds would be used. He said, initially, the funds had been used for housing rehabilitation only, but last year CDBG funds had been used 50/50 for rehabilitation and infrastructure improvements, such as sidewalks. Discussion ensued regarding land acquisition and the Mayor said she felt the City should budget sufficient funds to purchase any land which may become available which could be used for parks, particularly land which was adjacent to existing parks. The Commission concurred and agreed to budget $250,000 for land acquisition. The Finance Director distributed graphs illustrating revenues received in recent years. Commissioner Beaver noted that there was a considerable increase in grant revenues. He acknowledged that Karen Scheffer of the City of Jacksonville, had been helpful to Atlantic Beach in securing grant moneys and pointed out that she was no longer with the City of Jacksonville. Commissioner Beaver inquired whether Atlantic Beach should hire an in-house grant writer. The City Manager pointed out, however, that it was often very expensive to administer grants. There being no further discussion, the Mayor declared the meeting adjourned at 9:55 p.m. Maureen King City Clerk Exhibit A Minutes - August 25, 1999 One Cost Time On-Going Funding al"ommision Request Borno Additional five police officers r West of Mayport active Park development Soccer in Russell Park City Hall Improvements/Expansion 3,‘,00 Mitchelso "7 D "Va0 Police detectives Maintenance of City Hall Park Maintenance Sea Oats Planting Beautification of Mayport Road Oak Tree Bank Fire Contract Review Shaughnessy Town Center Improvements Am? Iztt7Gk 0.510 V) Bike Path System 3 9- DOT link Parks Shade Trees on Seminole Road -e- vlo a,. Lj4-,4( Hazardous Waste pick-up point - cteuk-Q4ekko. Privatization of Water&Sewer Utility operations Facility MakieRarice l}eio. -. Meserve Master Plans(Comprehensive City wide) Mayport Road Beautification Landscape maintenance people or equipment Sewer hook-up funding Police communication radio system foo M1kz City Hall bulkhead for ooze mitigation Beavon JtY-. f-77 1L :L1 Y1'1 YHKKS HNL KtUKtH11U . ExhibitB Minutes - August 25, 1999 August 3, 1999 TO: Mayor Shaughnessy and City Commission FR: DeJean Melancon, Chairman Parks and Recreation Advisory Board RE: Bull Park Recommendations The Board held a regular meeting on July 28,1999 and voted to recommend the following budget adjustments to Bull Park.The bid adjustments are taken from the bid submitted by ABBA Construction. I. Curbing and Sidewalk-delete perimeter concrete curbing and sidewalk from the bid package. Sidewalks should constructed where new parking areas will require sidewalks to be replaced. (Bid items#2b, 7b-c, 8a-d are budgeted at$62,667. The board believes 50-60% can be saved). Anticipated savings $32,667. 2. Playground Structure-delete Timberform(wood) Structure from the bid package. Under a separate bid replace with a Steel and Aluminum Structure similar to recent installations at Russell Park and Atlantic Beach Elementary. Set budget at $50,000. Bid items #2d, 3a-d, 7a are budgeted at$92,767).Anticipated savings $42,767. Before purchasing a system discuss with Karen Scheffer,City of Jacksonville, Department of Parks about possible joint funding of the playscape. 3. Heat Pump Conversion-recommend deletion,bid#21-$6,319. 4. Plants-recommend separate bid, anticipate a 10% savings-$5,200. 5. Mobilization Cost-reduce to$30,000 because of deleted items. Anticipated savings 5,391. Summary: Total reductions are initially estimated at $92,344. These estimates are the opinion of the Board and must be verified with the selected contractor. These changes preserve the original design principles. In summary the Board believes the Bull Park project can be constructed for$250,000 with the above modifications and other miscellaneous reductions. Recommendation: The Board recommends the Commission approves a budgeted amount of$250,000 and authorize Staff to move forward with the project. od4,