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Draft Min 1-11-10MINUTES REGULAR CITY COMMISSION MEETING January 11, 2010 CITY HALL, 800 SEMINOLE ROAD Attendance IN ATTENDANCE: Mayor Mike Borno City Attorney Alan C. Jensen Commissioner Jonathan Daugherty City Manager Jim Hanson Mayor Pro Tem John L. Fletcher City Clerk Donna L. Bartle Commissioner Paul Parsons Recording Secretary Nancy E. Bailey Commissioner Carolyn Woods Call to Order/Pledge Mayor Borno called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Mayor Pro Tem Fletcher gave the Invocation, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Approval of Minutes 1. Approval of the minutes of the Regular Commission Meeting of December 14, 2009. Commissioner Woods asked that a change be made on page 7, stating when they were talking about the concert, what the minutes state currently is "she stated the symphony is a very special event" and what she was actually trying to say was, the symphony itself is very important to the City and not the event in particular. Motion: Apurove the minutes of the Regular Commission Meeting of December 14, 2009, as amended. Moved by Parsons, Seconded by Fletcher. Votes: Aye: 5 -Borno, Daugherty, Fletcher, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 - MOTION CARRIED Courtesy of the Floor 2. Courtesy of the Floor to Visitors. Mayor Borno opened the Courtesy of the Floor to Visitors. He welcomed the audience and explained the process for public comments. No one from the audience spoke so Mayor Borno closed the Courtesy of the Floor to Visitors. A. Proclamation for Arbor Day. Mayor Borno read the Proclamation in its entirety, proclaiming January 15, 2010 as Arbor Day. Rick Carper explained the Arbor Day Event, to be held at southwest corner of Johansen Park this Friday, January 15, from 3:00 - 5:00 pm. He stated a Live Oak tree will be planted during the event. He stated this is an educational event and will include a sapling give-away. He also explained the Adopt-a-Tree program, stating they are offering Live Oaks, East Palatka Hollies and Drake Elms this year. January 11, 2010 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Pase Z Unfinished Business 3. Unfinished Business from Previous Meeting from Previous A. City Manager's Follow-up Report. Meeting City Manager reported on the parking complaint on Sherry Drive at 5~' Street, stating a no parking sign has been installed and the resident has been requested to cut back the hedge. He also reported the cost to run the Adele Grage Center is estimated to be just under $180,000 per year. He stated the annual rental income is just under $17,000 which is about 10% of the cost. Consent Agenda 4. Consent Agenda ALL MATTERS LISTED UNDER THE CONSENT AGENDA ARE CONSIDERED TO BE ROUTINE BY THE CITY COMMISSION AND WILL BE ENACTED BY ONE MOTION IN THE FORM LISTED BELOW. THERE WILL BE NO SEPARATE DISCUSSION OF THESE ITEMS. IF DISCUSSION IS DESIRED, THAT ITEM WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA AND WILL BE CONSIDERED SEPARATELY. SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION AND STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS HAVE BEEN PREVIOUSLY SUBMITTED TO THE CITY COMMISSION ON THESE ITEMS. A. Acknowledge receipt of the Monthly Financial Report for November 2009, Public Works and Utility Departments Project Status Report through December 31, 2009, and List of New Business Tax Receipts in December 2009. Mayor Borno read the Consent Agenda. Commissioner Fletcher pulled the item for discussion purposes. He asked the Finance Director when the bed tax fund is replenished. Mr. Van Liere stated they aze received monthly. Commissioner Fletcher then asked if we were on pace, to which Mr. Van Liere replied no. _Motion: Aaarove Consent Agenda Item A. as read. Moved by Fletcher, seconded by Parsons. _ Votes: Aye: 5 -Borno, Daugherty, Fletcher, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 - MOTION CARRIED Committee Reports 5. Committee Reports None. Action on Resolutions 6. Action on Resolutions A. Resolution No. 10-01 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH, FLORIDA, TO JOIN WITH OTHER LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL UNITS AS A PARTICIPANT IN THE FLORIDA MUNICIPAL INVESTMENT TRUST FOR THE PURPOSE OF PURCHASING SHARES OF BENEFICIAL INTEREST IN THE TRUST. Finance Director Nelson Van Liere explained there is approximately $15 million that the City manages or has invested for their use, a lot of which is restricted. He stated in January 11 2010 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Paae 3 past years the investment returns have gone down substantially, almost to not covering the banking expenses. He stated part of the reason for that is because the City is required to keep it invested in protected principal. He explained currently we have a CD making .65% and the rest of the funds making .3%. He stated $6 million is in the CD but the rest is liquid and the City can get at it anytime we need. He stated this Resolution is required by the Florida Municipal Investment Trust in order to invest with them. He stated this will give the City another option and it is doing a little bit better returns than what we are getting now. He explained a Board of Directors of the Florida League of Cities is the investment advisor to the portfolio manager, Atlantic Capital Management. He stated there are multiple pools that can be invested in and he is asking for the Resolution to be passed so the City can open an account and invest with them but he would restrict the City to only two of their products, which are short term high quality bond funds. He stated there are no guarantees that the City will make a lot of money, or any money, but it gives the City one more place to divest its investments. He stated you can get at the funds twice a month and it meets the City's criteria of being AAA rated. Commissioner Fletcher clarified that there is a possibility that we could lose principal and where we are now is fully insured. Mr. Van Liere agreed. Commissioner Fletcher asked if there is third party verification of assets available. Mr. Van Liere stated the Florida League of Cities is the Board that is the advisor to this fund and on that Board are finance directors for cities and counties which he feels pretty good about. Commissioner Fletcher asked if there is a limit on the percent of the total assets that he would put into this fund. Mr. Van Liere stated it would depend on the various circumstances but he would not want to put more than half of the City's money in it. Commissioner Fletcher stated he has great respect for Mr. Van Liere and believes it is great we are looking to make more money on the money we have. He stated he is concerned when you can't get third party verification, even though we probably have a really good set of eyes with the Florida League of Cities overseeing it. He stated if we do go along with this, he would like to limit it to approximately 20% of the total $15 million available. Mr. Van Liere stated our policy doesn't have those limitations but he also has his reservations. He stated the Commission could put a restriction like that but he believes he would be restricting himself anyway. Commissioner Fletcher stated since there is a potential to lase principal, he is concerned and believes preservation of capital is more important than the risk taken to get 2% or whatever. Commissioner Daugherty agreed with Commissioner Fletcher's concerns stating he did some research on the different funds available and showed those funds on the overhead screen. He explained one fund dropped half of its value in January 2008 which concerns him. He further stated this Resolution does not limit in any way what kind of funds we can invest in. He stated initially it sounded like a great idea, taking our money and putting it in something to get more money back, but he does not want to put it in something that has a high risk. Mr. Van Liere stated the way the process works is we select the funds we want. Commissioner Daugherty stated he does not believe there is enough information in this Resolution. He stated if we limit the investment to a certain amount and put it in AAA rated bonds he would support it. Commissioner Fletcher stated the assets sound like mortgage-backed securities and what has led to the country's financial unraveling is the securitization of these January 11.2010 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 4 investments, whether you are packaging car loans or mortgages, and he has a concern with that kind of investment. He stated he would rather be in cash and make .35% or whatever. Mr. Van Liere stated he has been agonizing over this for a while and part of the reason he is bringing this to the Commission is because, at some point, doing nothing is not a good thing either. He stated, as discussed with the City Manager, he can make .3% for the next three years but if he makes 2.3% for the next three years, that is $300,000-400,000. He stated he doesn't know if there is cause to be afraid of this. He stated the assets that make up this portfolio right now are all individually AAA rated . He stated the rating is supposed to be an indication of what is behind the assets. He stated if he could take only 20% and make 2%, then he will cover his banking expenses for the year. He further stated he will lose principal doing nothing at .3% because our expenses of banking are eating every bit we earn every month. Commissioner Fletcher stated if we were guaranteed not to lose principal, he would agree, but it is the prospect and potential of losing principal that concerns him most. He stated if it was his money, he would be with him and take the gamble, but they are in a position of public trust. He stated he does not believe Mr. Van Liere will be chastised for being overly conservative and not losing the City principal. He stated he believes Mr. Van Liere has done very well so far but is a little concerned about making this move. Commissioner Parsons reminded the Commission of when Mr. Van Liere saved the City by yanking our money from a trust that saved us over a million dollars, so he doesn't believe anyone is more conservative than Mr. Van Liere. He stated he does like the idea of taking the risk off Mr. Van Liere's shoulders a little bit by limiting the investment to 50%, not 20%, because he believes this helps him out. He stated he trusts Mr. Van Liere's choices and believes this will be a move we will not regret. He stated he believes this is a Resolution they can all agree to and if they want to limit it some, then limit the investment to 50%. Mr. Van Liere explained 50%, $8 million, is not his intention. He stated he wants to give the City the opportunity to be able to put some money in this. He stated we already have 50% in a CD and we need some operating cash. He stated he will not rush into this, but rather watch it for awhile and may decide never to put any money in it. He stated, in order for him to even be able to consider investing, the Florida League of Cities Florida Municipal Investment Trust requires this Resolution to open an account. He stated it just gives the City one more option for investing. He stated the auditors said it was okay to invest in this, but he came to the Commission for approval of the Resolution as a required by the Florida League of Cities FMIT. Mr. Van Liere stated this is a portfolio of what we are allowed to invest in. He stated since this is a money market fund he can get out of it twice a month. He stated he could invest in Treasury notes and get 2.5% but it would tie the money up for 5 or 6 years. He stated the question is do we need the money now enough to go ahead and tie up some money or take a little bit of risk in order to have some income coming. Mayor Borno asked if there is a need in this Resolution to put anything in it about 50% or a limit of certain type funds, short term, AAA. He asked if we are covered by other directives within the Finance Department's investment restrictions. Mr. Van Liere further explained the Resolution allows the City to invest, it does not put restrictions on the investments made by the City. He stated he believed the investment policy was passed by Ordinance and that would need to be amended to limit it that way. Mayor January 11.2010 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Paee 5 Borno asked Mr. Van Liere to bring back recommendations to the Commission for the investment policy. Commissioner Woods stated she believes if they place a limit on it, it just gives everybody a little comfort zone and parameters to work with. Commissioner Woods asked if the problem mentioned earlier had been with this fund or a different organization. Mr. Van Liere explained that was with the State Board Administration, who basically had a run on the bank. He stated they had some bad assets and the cities started taking money out and as more of them took their money out, the worse it got. Commissioner Woods stated she just wanted to make sure those kinds of issues aze not something that we are facing with this. Mr. Van Liere stated it is an investment pool, it is a similaz type of investment. He stated it just has to be monitored, you have to pay attention because anything can happen. Commissioner Woods stated Mr. Van Liere mentioned the one fund had asset based loans tied to it and asked if there was another fund he was considering. Mr. Van Liere stated both funds were similar, they just had different durations. Commissioner Woods agreed those aze a lot safer than they were a couple of years ago. She stated it is very hard for people to get loans and believes they have tightened up a lot of those issues. She stated she has great faith in Mr. Van Liere and would be in favor of the Resolution. Commissioner Daugherty stated since we aze investing the citizens' money, he wants to be extremely cazeful. He stated he would like to have Mr. Van Liere come back with some more details and a tighter resolution. Mr. Van Liere suggested he come back with a proposal to change the investment policy and put the restrictions on. Mayor Borno stated the Resolution, as drafted, does nothing more than allow Mr. Van Liere to open the portfolio. He stated Mr. Van Liere's guidelines come from the investment policy of Atlantic Beach and the Commission can work with him to make amendments and address this particular portfolio. Commissioner Fletcher proposed directing staff to make an amendment to the investment policy stating if the investment is non-insured and there is the potential to lose principal that we limit the investment to 20%. Mr. Van Liere stated he has some investment policies from other cities he can look at to see how they have restricted their investments. Mayor Borno suggested deferring to the first meeting in February. Mr. Van Liere stated he would bring the Resolution back with the second reading of the Ordinance changing the policy. Motion: Defer action on Resolution No. 10-O1 until the second readins of the modification of the Ordinance of the City of Atlantic Beach's investment nolicy. Moved by Fletcher, seconded by Daugherty. Votes: Aye: 5 -Borno, Daugherty, Fletcher, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 - MOTION CARRIED Action on Ordinances 7. Action on Ordinances A. ORDINANCE N0.45-10-20, Public Hearing and Final Reading January 11.2010 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 6 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH, FLORIDA, AMENDING CHAPTER 20 OF 'THE CODE OF ORDINANCES, TAXATION, ARTICLE III, LOCAL BUSINESS TAX, SEC. 20-52.1, INSPECTIONS, TO DELETE FEES FOR INITIAL BUILDING INSPECTIONS AND FIRE INSPECTIONS FROM BEING INCLUDED IN BUSINESS TAX FEES, AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Mayor Borno read Ordinance No. 45-10-20 by title. Motion: Approve Ordinance No. 45-10-20, as read. Moved by Fletcher, seconded by Parsons. Mayor Borno opened the Public Hearing. He explained the changes to the Ordinance. No one from the audience spoke so Mayor Borno closed the Public Hearing. Votes: Aye: 5 -Borno, Daugherty, Fletcher, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 - MOTION CARRIED B. Ordinance No. 95-10-100, Introduction and First Reading AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH, FLORIDA, AMENDING CHAPTER 5 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES, BEACHES AND PARKS, ARTICLE III, PUBLIC PARKS, SEC. 5-32, USER FEES FOR PARKS AND RECREATION FACILITIES, PROVIDING A NEW FEE SCHEDULE FOR RENTING THE ADELE GRAGE CULTURAL CENTER, AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Mayor Borno read Ordinance No. 95-10-100 by title. Motion: Approve Ordinance No. 95-10-100, as read. Moved by Parsons, seconded by Fletcher. Commissioner Parsons asked if the private events such as ABET and YMCA are included in this Ordinance. Mr. Hanson stated they were not included, they are by contract. Commissioner Parsons further stated instead of jumping the fees all at once he believes the fees should be more progressively increased. Mr. Hanson stated at the last meeting a number of issues were brought up including phasing in the not-for-profit organizations. He stated staff had drafted some language that will phase in the not-for-profit portion of it over three years, which he distributed to the Commission. Commissioner Parsons stated he would like to see this across the board, not just for the not-for-profit organizations. Commissioner Fletcher disagreed stating the rental fee for Adele Grage is so low it doesn't cover the maintenance costs to keep it looking good. He stated he supports this new language for the not-for-profits but for private functions he supports making the change effective immediately. Discussion ensued and it was the consensus of the Commission to amend the motion to include the new language. January 11.2010 REGiJLAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 7 Amended Motion: Amend aaraarauhs (d) (1) and (fl (1) with the new lanauaae in red and add "or other aualified" after 501(c)(3) in aarasraphs fib), (d) and (fl. Moved by Fletcher, seconded by Woods Mayor Borno stated there were some people in the audience who arrived late and did not have the opportunity to put blue slips in and invited them to address this issue. Cheryl Mauro-Berg of Sons of Italy in America, Beaches Lodge 2821, stated they have been using Adele Grage for three years. She stated they have a limited budget and further explained what her organization does. She stated they could afford to build into their budget the graduated increase of $5/month because they are hoping to increase their membership. Commissioner Fletcher clarified she was saying they concur with the phase in the City would do for a non-profit. Ms. Mauro-Berg agreed, stating they area 501(c)(8) non-profit rather than a 501(c)(3) because they are a fraternal organization. Commissioner Daugherty asked when they meet. Ms. Mauro-Berg stated they have their general membership meeting monthly. Commissioner Daugherty stated under subparagraph (b) it excludes the Adele Grage Cultural Center for a contract rate for not-for-profit organizations that meet 6 or more times. He stated he would like to remove "other than the Adele Grage Cultural Center" for groups like this that meet on a monthly basis. Discussion ensued and it was the consensus of the Commission not to change that item. Further discussion ensued regarding adding language to include other specific non-profit organizations and it was the consensus to add "or other qualified" after 501(c)(3) in paragraphs (b), (d)and (f j. Mayor Borno read the section in red to clarify for Ms. Mauro-Berg that the charges were per hour, not per day. Commissioner Woods stated the City does have two other facilities that are large enough to accommodate Ms. Mauro- Berg's group. Mayor Borno called for a vote on the motion for the amendments. Votes: Aye: 4 -Borno, Daugherty, Fletcher, Woods Nay: 1-Parsons MOTION CARRIED Mayor Borno then called for a vote on the Ordinance 95-10-100 as amended. Votes: Aye: 3 -Borno, Fletcher, Woods Nay: 2 -Daugherty, Parsons MOTION CARRIED January 11. X010 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 8 Miscellaneous 8. Miscellaneous Business Business A. Community Development Block Grant 2008 Storm Disaster Recovery Application. Assistant City Manager David Thompson explained this funding became available from the Federal Government as a result of Tropical Storm Fay. He stated staff has proposed a project of approximately $198,000 to do some rehabilitation of some of the sewer lines in the Donner Subdivision. He stated all CDBG projects are required to be in low to moderate income areas, for which the Donner Subdivision qualifies. He stated he is asking for the Commission's approval for the Mayor to sign the application form. Motion: Authorize staff to seek the CDBG funding, as discussed, and to authorize the Mayor to sign the application and subsequent documents for the grant. Moved by Woods, Seconded by Daugherty. Commissioner Daugherty asked if this would limit the City from seeking additional funding like this. Mr. Thompson stated this would not limit us in any way in going after additional funding to make further upgrades in the future. He also stated this funding does not require a match. Commissioner Daugherty expressed his appreciation to everyone involved in putting this together. Mayor Borno thanked the Utility Department, David Thompson and Donna Kaluzniak for their hard work on this project. He stated there are also other areas that need this work. He asked whether the pump station that services this area is one that has been or will be upgraded. Ms. Kaluzniak stated all of the pump stations are fairly old, but they did do some upgrades to that station in 2000, so the station is alright, it is just the lines around it that need work. Votes: Aye: 5 -Borno, Daugherty, Fletcher, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 - MOTION CARRIED B. First Vehicle Services Annual CPI Cost Adjustment. Public Works Director Rick Carper summarized his staff report and showed a slide explaining the Annual CPI Increase. He stated he recommended the Commission authorize a 2% increase for First Vehicle Services. He pointed out that they did not ask for an increase in their non-contract maintenance rate, which they have done the last several years, so that will remain the same. Commissioner Parsons asked if they decreased their labor force. Mr. Carper stated they have the same labor force. Mayor Borno asked Mr. Carper to summarize what they maintain for the City. Mr. Carper explained they work on all of the City's vehicles except the hybrid vehicles, which are all under warranty. He stated they also maintain all of the City's small January 11 2010 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 9 engine equipment, i.e. weed eaters, trimmers, chain saws etc., as well as all of the heavy equipment such as backhoes, tractors, etc. Commissioner Daugherty asked where the maintenance is performed. Mr. Carper stated that was all done in the City Garage at the Public Works building. Commissioner Daugherty asked about bringing this in-house. Mr. Carper stated they have not discussed that; it was privatized in the early 94s with one of the City's mechanics going to First Vehicle Services. Mr. Hanson stated he understands that when it was privatized it went from three mechanics to two, saving the City a considerable sum of money. Discussion ensued. Commissioner Woods discussed the City's hybrid vehicles, asking if First Vehicle Services will be able to deal with them when they come off their warranty or will we be forced to have two different services. Mr. Carper stated when the hybrids come off warranty the two mechanics are not currently qualified to work on them, but should we get a larger fleet of hybrids, we would be in a position of asking First Vehicle to get that capability. He stated since we are supported out of the Jacksonville Beach office, he believes they would get one hybrid mechanic to support both cities. Commissioner Woods asked if that is an ongoing conversation or something that we haven't really started. Mr. Carper stated that is a conversation we have not begun other than the fact that he has verified they don't have anyone in the local area that is qualified to work on hybrids. Commissioner Woods asked if our hybrids will come off warranty before the City gets around to new contract negotiations. Mr. Carper stated the first hybrid will but the others are two years newer. Commissioner Woods suggested we should probably start that conversation. Motion: Approve the requested fee increase of $4861.49 to the First Vehicle Services contract for the period of 12/01/09 through 11/30/10, and authorize the City Manager to sign the proposed contract amendment. Moved by Parsons, Seconded by Daugherty. Votes: Aye: 5 - Borno, Daugherty, Fletcher, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 - MOTION CARRIED C. Ocean Blvd. Water Main Replacement -Bid No. 0910-04. Mayor Borno explained there was an updated staff report that included the figures the Commission had received by email, since the bid was held after the agenda packet went out. Donna Kaluzniak apologized for the corrections and having to get everything done in such a rush but stated they had to meet a DEP deadline. She explained the low bidder was TB Landmark, stating when they completed the bid analysis they found an error in their spreadsheet which brought the actual bid amount to $114,189.43. She stated they had TB Landmark review and sign the bid analysis for and agree that is the correct number. She stated she did check their references because she has not worked with them and the references were very good. She stated she also asked them about their price being very significantly lower than the others and was told one of the reason they believe they are quite a bit lower is because they waited until the last minute for one of the vendors to give them a quote and it was significantly lower than the ones they had received previously. She stated she does feel comfortable after doing all the review that this is a good contractor to recommend at a very good price. January 11.2010 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Pace 10 She stated they have sent the documents to the DEP who has to review all of the documents and give their approval. She recommended the Commission give approval contingent upon the DEP's okay. Motion: Award the contract for the Ocean Blvd. Water Main Replacement proiect to TB Landmark Construction, Inc., contingent on the approval by FDEP, and authorize the City Manager to sign the atreement. Moved by Fletcher, Seconded by Woods. Commissioner Parsons asked if we checked out TB Landmark's supplier. Ms. Kaluzniak stated she did not check out their supplier but it is a very well known supplier, Duval Asphalt, so she believes we are not getting anything we weren't asking for. Commissioner Fletcher clarified that TB Landmark posted a performance bond. Mr. Hanson noted all of the bids were under the budget, which was another good example that we are in very tough economic times and a lot of contractors are hungry. He stated it is a great time to do work if you have the money and it is the right thing to do because it is helping the economy and putting people to work. Ms. Kaluzniak stated this is also stimulus SRF money that we are using. Mayor Borno thanked Ms. Kaluzniak for her good work. Votes: Aye: 5 -Borno, Daugherty, Fletcher, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 - MOTION CARRIED City Manager 9. City Manager A. City Manager's Report City Manager Hanson reported the latest alcohol deployment resulted in two businesses, BP on Atlantic Blvd. and Ragtime, selling to underage buyers. He stated this was the first time Ragtime has sold to minors and the second time in the same year this BP station has done so. He also reported on the website statistics stating, through December 10, 2009, the City had over 6 million hits to our website for 2009 and over 101,000 different people from 99 different countries. Reports/Requests 10. Reports and/or requests from City Commissioners and City Attorney City Commissioners City Attorney Commissioner Fletcher • Thanked David Thompson and Donna Kaluzniak and her staff for being able to get everything together to apply for the grant • Stated he will not be here for the meeting on the 25'" and would like to have two items deferred until he returns, the Land Development Regulations item and the fmal vote for the fee changes. Mayor Borno asked the City Attorney if they can defer the final reading on the fees until they have a full Commission. Mr. Jensen stated yes, if the Commission votes to do so. January 11.2010 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING PaEe 11 Motion Defer Ordinance 95-10-100 to first meeting in February. Moved by Fletcher, seconded by Daugherty Commissioner Daugherty asked how we notify people of increases like this. Commissioner Parsons stated we rely on the newspaper and Internet. Mr. Jensen stated all Ordinances are advertised as required by law. Mayor Borno asked if Timmy Johnson's staff could call all the regular users of Adele Grage giving them a heads up that there is now in discussion a fee change. Mr. Hanson stated, for the recurring users we could do this, but there are a lot of one time parties. Mayor Borno stated he believes we should only be concerned with recurring reservations. Mr. Hanson stated we could certainly send them a copy or give them a call letting them know there is a fee change proposed. Votes: Aye: 5 - Borno, Daugherty, Fletcher, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 - MOTION CARRIED • Reported Mayport Middle is going to become a marine science magnet school. Commissioner Woods • Encouraged everyone in Atlantic Beach to participate in the Census count so when it comes to these money issues we are well represented. • Regarding the marine science programs, she stated she would like to see Atlantic Beach's marsh property become a field trip destination point for schools in Southeast Georgia and Northeast Florida. She stated she believes this is a great opportunity to tie our new marsh property into these marine science programs. Mayor Borno • Stated the Board Member Review Committee is scheduled to meet later this week to consider two expiring terms on the Tree Board. He stated we changed the Tree Ordinance one year ago moving responsibility for permit approvals for one and two family residential tree applications to staff. He stated this process has gone smoothly and no applications have been filed that needed to go to the Tree Board. He stated because of a lack of business, the Tree Board has cancelled most of their meetings for the past year. He stated he does not believe it is appropriate to keep appointing people to a Board that doesn't meet. He stated the remaining approvals for commercial and multi-family residential tree permits can be handled by staff by the existing Ordinance. He requested an Ordinance be prepared to transfer responsibilities for all tree permit approvals to staff, with any appeals still coming back to the Commission and eliminate the Tree Board. Commissioner Woods stated she was not in favor of that. Commission Fletcher stated he was in favor, but asked if there are any duties the Tree Board has remaining, as prescribed in the Tree Ordinance. Mr. Hanson stated mitigation is spelled out in the Tree Ordinance and is not a discretionary thing that someone needs a Tree Board to assess. Commissioner Daugherty stated he needs more information before making a decision. Mayor January 11.2010 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 12 Borno stated that is why he requested staff to prepare an Ordinance for review by the Commission. • Requested staff to prepare a report regarding possible parking improvements at Adele Grage. • Thanked City Attorney for his monthly report. • Reported a Martin Luther King celebration will be held at St. Paul's By The Sea on Sunday, January 17, at 4:00 p.m., with a reception following. He stated it is co-hosted by St. Paul's By The Sea and St. Andrews AME in Jacksonville Beach. • Stated both Senator Thrasher and Representative Renuart signed the letter to the St. Johns River Water Management District regarding consumptive use. • Asked if the Commission had a chance to read the handout "the Next Big Crisis", about the future of the economy and how long it is going to take to get itself straightened out. • Pointed out the reservation deadline for the NEFLC dinner/meeting on January 21 is Friday, January 15. • Stated he received a letter requesting Atlantic Beach participation in the Mayport Waterfront Partnership. He stated after research by the City Manager and himself, his personal feelings are that he sees no reason to get Atlantic Beach involved since they are not part of Atlantic Beach and, therefore, he does not intend to appoint anyone to be on the Mayport Waterfront Partnership. He stated we have too much we need to deal with ourselves without taking on another issue. Adjournment There being no further discussion, the Mayor declared the meeting adjourned at 7:52 p.m. Mike Borno, Mayor/Presiding Officer ATTEST: Donna L. Bartle, CMC City Clerk