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05-24-48 v Page #1 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR I-IEETING OF THE ATLANTIC BEACH TOWN COUNCIL HELD AT TBE TOWN HALL ON MONDAY, MAY 24TH, 1948, AT $ P.M. present : Beale Travis N.A. Minchew Will D. Merritt W.E. Williams , Jr. Harcourt Bull, Jr. , Councilmen and G.L. Rosborough, Mayor Frank Thompson, Town Attorney C .R. Frazier, Town Supervisor Adele S . Grage , Town Clerk The meeting was call4d to order by the President, I'ir. Travis , and went directly into session ad a Board of Equalization on the Preliminary Rolls covering the Special Seawall Emergency Assessments . General Youngberg read his letter to the Council setting forth his objections to the assessments . This letter was filed with the Town Clerk. • Er. L.K. Walrath appeared on behalf of some of the owners in Block 27 lying between 2nd and 3rd Sts. on the ocean front . Thesd owners included Gardner Gillette , W.G. Kirby, J.A. Reid , and E.K. Aiagarian. 41r. Walrath presented a brief setting forth their reasons for feeling the Assessment'Rolls were inequitable. This brief was filed with the Town Clerk. Mr. Gillette , Mr. Reid, Er. 1lagarian and lir. Kirby also spoke in their own behalf . Mr. Wilcox inquired as to who made the plan for the assess- ments , as he could not understand how the sandbagging was figured. He was advised that the Council set up the formula for working out the assessments . He also read part of his resignation which he sent the Council at the time he resigned from the Board of Appraisors on the SeaJall Emergency. Er. Travis turned the chair over to Mr. iinchew, the vice- president , and spoke in his own behalf as a "citizen" . He advised that no i oney was spent on his preperty, but that he had not objected to the assessment made against him, as his part of the emergency cost. Mr. Jacobs advised that he had written a letter to the Council setting forth his suggestions and the same is on file with the Town Clerk. lie advised thatbhis main concern is the condition of the seaw.11 on the adjoining property to him, and the fact that something must be done before the fall storms. Ars. Logan Thomson asked to go on record as reporting that 3rd street , Atlantic Beach is the only street-end in all Atlantic Beach that has no protection whatever. Mr. Glover Weiss advised that he feels that he was over- assessed and thinks the entire community should share the expense. Fir. Ben LcCormick of the B.B. McCormick & Sons spoke on behalf of his company as one of the larger creditors. He advised that though they do not own any property in Atlantic Beach, they have quite a large investment in the Town. He ad- vised that he felt that the Council had done the best they could in devising a plan for making these assessments . He also advised that if there were suits resulting from these assessments, that his company will establish their entire bill of 4$000. for payment . Page #2 Mr. Clifford Payne spoke and advised that he felt the most important thing was getting t o-get her to get this thing behind us , as the Fall storms will be starting soon. Mr. Carter Hough also advised that he did not think the assessments were equalized correctly . There was a considerable discussion as to the sandbagging, ri-rapping, and tie-backing .. There was a question as to just where sandbagging was done , and Mr. Bull and Mr. Travis both advised that sandbagging was indulged in as an emergency seawall only at points where improvements required protection. Following the hearing of these complaints, the Council took them under consideration. After a great deal of discussion and due consideration, and upon motion of Mr. Williams , seconded by Mr. Bull the Special Seawall Emergency Assessment Rolls as made covering sandbagging, rip-rapping, and tie-backs, are hereby approved and confirmed. The call vote was as follows: I,Iinchew, Merritt , Williams , Bull, and Travis "aye". The Town Clerk was instructed to advise those who had registered complaints of the Council's action. The Council went into regular session to consider matters of business. There was a discussion of the water pressure at the south end of the Town, and upon motion of I.ir. Bull , seconded by Mr. Iiinchew the following Resolution was adopted: BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF ATLANTIC BEACH, DUVAL COUNTY, FLORIDA THAT, due to the drain on the water lines and pump caused by the dry weather, that between the hours of 10 A.M. and 7 P.M. , the watering of lawns between 7th St. south to Atlantic Boulevard, and between Sherry Drive east to the Ocean, where Town' s water is used, be prohibited until further action by the Town Council. Proof of publication of the Resolutions and Preliminary Assessment -Rolls on the Seawall Emergency are attached hereto and are made a part of these minutes. Upon motion of Mr. Bull the meeting adjourned from day to day. Oma. Beale Travis, President Attest : kdt.ez__ • Adele S. Grage , Town Clerk COPT 1-1 GILBERT A. YOUNGBERG BRIGADIER GENERAL,U.S.ARMY,RETIRED CONSULTING ENGINEER JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA POST OFFICE BOX 36 May 26, 1948 44planate y Note:- The substance of this letter vas dictated and typed in the rough" on the morning of the 25th instant. Since then I have been informed that the Council took "about fifteen minutes out" to con- sider duly (?) the protests presented at the equalization neoting, held on the evening of the 24th, and decided "to stand pat" upon the rolls as published. Inasmuch as it was admitted that the latter had been set up on the basin of expediency I, frankly, did not expect any other de- cision, even though I doubted the necessity for, or wisdom of, the resort to expediency, and the consequent actual inequity of the as- sessments. However, the October storm, severe and destructive as it was, was not "the storm to end all storms". There will be others, and the Town Authorities should seek legislation which will definitely put those authorities in position to meet future storm damages. Be- ing on the ocean front, the Town is subject to storm action at any time, and consequently a potential state of emergency always exists. On the basis of the foregoing, I submit a letter which was pre- pared as stated above. To the Town Council of the Town of Atlantic Beach, Florida. Gentlemen: In accordance with public notice I presented , at the Town Council Meeting on May 24th, a brief bearing on the assessments for assent Of certain work made neceneary by the storm, winds and tides, of October 1947. At the meeting I was unable to follow closely a catch-?s-catch can discussion which took place between some members of the Council and some tax payers on the floor. But I understood Councilman Bull to make a statement -- to me very astonishing -- that the sand bags had not been placed for a000unt or benefit of the seawall, but "for the protection of the houses" behind that seawall, and that, in con- sequence, assessments had not been levied on lots on which no houses had been bnilt. I doubt that Mr. Bull can justify his theory of a.ssassnent. I doubt that, under its charter, the Town had, or now has, any legal right to enter upon private property, and to expend Town funds for the protection of the houses as such. Mad the houses been on fire, then the Town, having legally a fire department, could have entered upon the private property "to save" the burning houses, and prevent /Fr The Town Council of Atlantic Beach, the spreed of the fire, but I doubt that the existing charter makes any similar provision for deattuction by winds, waves or tides. If Mr. Bull l s statement is correct, viz; that the sand bags were placed "for the protection of the houses" then the assessment against my lots should be cancelled entirely. My cottage, being fully 150 feet back from the seawall, was in no danger whatever dur- ing the storm. No sand bags wore placed for its protection and there was no breach in the wall opposite these lots, and no rip rap, and no tic-back, was put in on those lots. With a view to legislation for protection in future emergencies - it is my contention -- 1) That the seawall was built for the benefit of the entire town, under the provision of a certain election in which all the freeholders of the Town had the privilege of voting. 2) That, at the election, the freeholders, in effect, agreed o a certain distribution of costs, which, after computation by a competent accountant, turned out to be 28.91 per cent to be as- sumed by the Town as a whole, and 71.09 per cent to be assumed by the owners of lots and lands abutting on the seawall. 3) That the seewall was constructed to protect the waterfront lots,and houses thereon, against the effects of erosion, and thus to maintain, at a high level, the value of the "ratablos" (the prolorty) from which the Town derives its revenues. 4) That the seawall is actually owned by the Town. 5) That, in essence, it is a service facility analogous to a water or sower line, and,like them, it should be kept in repair by the Town regardless of the location of any breach. (:tote : In Jackeonvil .e, where a break occurs in a water main,or a sewer line, the City lakes the repairs but does not assess the cost thereof against the owners of adjoining property) . 6) That, contrary to Mr. Dullia idea, the sand bags and rip rap, whether placed on the line of the seawall, or atotherstrategic places, were really emergency substitutions for, or replacements of, those portions of the seawall which had failed, or :z ;ich in- dicated imminence of failure. 7) That, in consequence of the foregoing, the total costs of the measures taken incident to the storm of October should be di- vided into two main portions, according to the percentages given above, and that, theroafter,tte larger portion, corresponding to 71.09 per cent of the cost, should be divided by the total number of feet in the wall, beginning at Atlantic Boulevard and extend- ing to 16th Streot, (after excluding the footage represented by the street ends, or other lands owned by the public), and that the IF The Town Council of Atlantic Beach, 1 5: . 6• ?1.0..- - 'age ..2.:..........._.__ quotient so resulting should be multiplied by the number of feet of frontage owned by c ac : individual owner. The above figure would be the land owner' s assesement,i gard- less of any buildings on, or not on, the property, and regardless of other details, sand bags, tie-backs and other materials pl aced, or used, on his lots or lands. I have devoted much thought, during the ;cast eight months, to this matter of rehabilitating the seawall, and have considered the dis- tribution of costs from every possible point of view, and I have come to the conclusion. that the foregoing is the only logical, fair and equitable method under which assessments should have been made, or should be made in the future. However, since the seawall was built, the ratio between the value of the ocean front lots and the value of all the taxable property in the Town, has changed. Hence, at any time assessments may become necessary for repairs and maintenance of the sea- wall, the assessments should be mmrin in the correct ratio as shown by -41r) the tax rolls at the time. L- a --, "-r _ To reiterate, the Town, being built u t on the ocean front, ®x3.e :s at all times under the threat of attack by storms and tides , requir- ing emergency action, and the charter should be attended in recognition of the facts, and suitable ordinances should be enacted under such amendments. Very truly yours, GAY-.gib Gilbert, A. Youngberg.