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8-22-11 MINUTES REGULAR CITY COMMISSION MEETING August 22, 2011 CITY HALL, 800 SEMINOLE ROAD Attendance IN ATTENDANCE: Mayor Mike Borno City Attorney Alan C. Jensen Mayor Pro Tem John L. Fletcher City Manager Jim Hanson Commissioner Jonathan Daugherty 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 6:07 p.m. Commissioner Parsons gave the Invocation, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Approval of Minutes 1. Approve the minutes of the Regular Commission Meeting of August 8, 2011. Motion: Approve the minutes of the Regular Commission Meeting of August 8, 2011, as written. Moved by Daugherty, 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. Mayor Borno introduced Mr. Michael Mesiano, Duval County Commissioner for Florida Inland Navigation District (FIND), who presented a grant check for the City to Mayor Borno in the amount of $144,290 to be used for the Tideviews dock extension proj ect. Jeri Benjamin, 800 Seminole Road, speaking as ex- chairman of the General Employees' Pension Board, addressed and clarified comments made at the workshop today about actions taken by the Pension Board as related to the assumed rate of return to be used in the City's Pension Plan Actuary Valuations. She stated comments were made that the 8% assumed rate of return approved by the Pension Board of Trustees was irresponsible and pie in the sky. She stated, as a volunteer Board member with fiduciary liability exposure, she is not sure that language of this nature is really appropriate in this litigious environment. She explained the assumed rate of return had been a hot topic in the pension arena for the past couple of years, due to the decrease in the investment returns in 2008 and 2009 although the upsurge in returns in 2010 quieted the discussions for a while. She explained the meeting to decide the rate was open to the public and comments from the plan sponsor (City management and Commission) would have been welcome. She stated the decision was not taken lightly by the Board of Pension Trustees. She stated, at the Board's request, the first ever August 22, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 2 assumption review was performed this past year. She stated they were given a range of rates and did not go with what was recommended because they felt there was a push to go with the flow and lower their rate. She stated they partnered with the investment advisor and relied on his guidance. She stated he was confident that the 8% was an achievable rate over the long term. She stated, although the decision to stay with 8% was not unanimous, both Boards did vote on it with the caveat that the plan is to annually revisit that assumed rate of return. She pointed out that they would have been considered irresponsible if they had just cavalierly said let's take the rate down to 6 %, which would have meant thousands of dollars in immediate City contribution increase in the coming year. Mayor Borno thanked Ms. Benjamin and stated he did not believe the comment made earlier at the workshop was an intention to slight any of the Board Trustees or their dedication. He stated he appreciated the clarification. Dick Hilliard, 338 11 St., addressed the Commission stating he was against the variance for the parking in Town Center. He asked that they give no more variances. Maria Mark, 1148 Linkside Drive, addressed the public safety issues in the Jordan Park area, stating some of the residents in the area have told her they no longer feel safe in their neighborhood because the drug dealers who were in jail are returning to the neighborhood. She stated the residents also complained about Francis Avenue, which is very narrow and traffic speeds up and down the road. She stated a resident suggested making it a one -way road or putting in speed bumps. She stated the residents have also complained about the noise. She further stated she would like to see more pedestrian crosswalks at some of the busier intersections and suggested that a study be done regarding this issue. She also discussed the five -way stop, stating it needs help to make it safer and have a better flow of traffic. Ms. Mark also addressed Agenda Item 8D, regarding the sign ordinance. She stated a lot has happened in ten years and the economic climate might be cause for the City to reconsider what this ordinance is actually requiring business owners to do. She believes this is a subject to readdress and they could take it back to the business owners and let them give their input on this as well. R.D. De Carle, 51 Beach Avenue, stated he supported Item 8E. He stated there are people parking on the grass next to his driveway because there is a sign that says do not park on the pavement. He suggested the City change the sign to say no parking. He stated we don't have enough parking in Atlantic Beach and this is beginning to become a City crisis because we are never going to have less of a need for parking than we have now. He recommended more research into mixed use, private /public partnerships, to get an expansion of the central business district combined with parking above. He stated we don't have enough parking spaces to park our own citizens who are going to the beach on a nice sunny day. He offered his services to work on an ad hoc committee to work with the Town Center Overlay District as a representative from Atlantic Beach to try to find a solution that might eventually help our oncoming parking crisis. He distributed an example of mixed use with shops below and parking above. Mayor Borno stated Mr. De Carle's volunteering is graciously accepted. He stated this is an issue that has been brought to the Commission before. He stated it is being studied right now and in the future there will be recommendations coming to the Commission for their consideration. August 22, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 3 Mitch Reeves, 1663 Sea Oats Drive, thanked the Commission, City Manager, Assistant City Manager, and all the professional staff at the Police Department for the outstanding job they do. He stated he was proud to live in this City and to be able to have the lowest tax rate, have our budgets reduced every year and not lose any services. He also stated he noticed that the sandwiches came from the Firehouse and would like next time that they come from Jimmy Johns, an Atlantic Beach business. Mayor Borno stated Ms. Mark's comments about Francis Street have been noted and this was brought to the Police Department's attention some time back. Commissioner Parsons stated it was also noted in the past couple of weeks there is a problem at Main Street and 6 Street. No one else from the audience spoke so Mayor Borno closed the Courtesy of the Floor to Visitors. Unfinished Business 3. Unfinished Business from Previous Meeting from Previous A. City Manager's Follow -up Report. Meeting None. 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 Building Department Monthly Activity Report, Utility Sales Report and the Monthly Financial Report for July 2011, and the Public Works and Utility Departments Project Status Report as of August 12, 2011. B. Award the Mosquito Control Services contract (Bid No. 1011 -21) to Bluewater Environmental and authorize the City Manager to sign the contract. C. Declare the list of property as surplus so that it may be disposed of in the most beneficial way to the City. Mayor Borno read the Consent Agenda. Commissioner Woods pulled Item A. Motion: Approve Consent Agenda Items B and C, as read. Moved by Fletcher, Seconded by Parsons. August 22, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 4 Votes: Aye: 5 — Borno, Daugherty, Fletcher, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED Commissioner Woods noted the Building Department Activity Report continues to show improvement and the water loss is going back down. Public Utility Director Donna Kaluzniak explained this could be because they have just about finished the meter replacement project and believes that might have had something to do with it, but it does fluctuate from month to month, so next month it might be worse. Mayor Borno commented on the completion of Well 2R and the rehabilitation of the well at Plant #1 on the Project Status Report, complimenting Ms. Kaluzniak on her involvement. Ms. Kaluzniak stated the rehabilitation was very successful. She stated the specific capacity went from 11 gallons /minute to 78 gallons /minute per foot, which means when they pump they don't have to pull so hard from so deep from the well which saves power and gives more water. Mayor Borno stated her idea saved the City a lot of money. Motion: Approve Consent Agenda Item A, as read. Moved by Woods, Seconded by Fletcher. 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 None. Action on Ordinances 7. Action on Ordinances None. Miscellaneous 8. Miscellaneous Business Business A. Regulation of Firearms. City Attorney Alan Jensen explained the Florida Legislature has preempted all of the control of firearms and ammunitions in the State and effective October 1 we have to bring our ordinance into compliance. He stated, after reviewing this with Chief Classey and City Manager Hanson, they have identified certain portions of the existing ordinances which would be affected and have prepared a draft ordinance for review by the Commission. He stated staff is looking for direction to proceed with the ordinance. Chief Classey stated he was here to assure everyone this ordinance will not turn the City into the Wild West. He stated there are a number of State laws that have been on August 22, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 5 the books for quite some time that deal with both carrying weapons and discharging firearms. Mr. Hanson further explained the current City ordinance states you cannot discharge a firearm, BB gun or pellet gun inside the City. He stated the change will be to take out the discharge of firearms because the air operated guns like BB guns and pellet guns are not similarly regulated by the State and the only way to keep them regulated is to keep that portion of our ordinance in place. Commissioner Woods suggested adding in the ordinance "all State laws pertaining to any and all weapons of any kind will be duly enforced within Atlantic Beach including, but not limited to ..." Mayor Borno agreed and asked City Attorney Jensen if there was some way to add that to the ordinance. Mr. Jensen stated, based on what he has read, it would appear if we have anything in our ordinance enforcing discharge of firearms is in violation of State statute. He stated the State statute that takes effect on October 1 states they are totally preempting the regulation of firearms and ammunition. Discussion ensued. Chief Classey stated from an enforcement standpoint it gives them no greater options than what they already have available, and, in the new State law, not only does it have fines for the people who pass those ordinances, it also has fines for the people who enforce them. He stated he would not want to be in any jeopardy of having any of his people receiving some sort of an adverse action due to enforcing the already available State law that has since been duplicated in City ordinance. Mayor Borno suggested working on what we have as a revised ordinance and ask the City Manager and City Attorney to contact the agencies about the summary report and the recommended way to put that out as public information. Motion: Schedule the revised ordinance for first reading at the September 12, 2011 Commission Meeting. Moved by Parsons, Seconded by Fletcher. Votes: Aye: 5 — Borno, Daugherty, Fletcher, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED B. Revisions to Chapter 8 Flood Hazard Areas. Building Official Mike Griffin explained the changes to the ordinance are to make it consistent with the State Flood Plain Regulations. He stated we participate in the National Flood Insurance Program and the Community Rating Systems Program which gives us a 15% discount on our flood insurance rates. He stated the Community Development Board heard the ordinance on August 16 and recommended approval and he will be bringing it back to the next meeting for First Reading. Motion: Approve and direct staff to bring ordinance back at next City Commission meeting for First Reading. Moved by Woods, Seconded by Fletcher. August 22, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 6 Mayor Borno requested, when they go to the ordinance and have the Public Hearings, that staff compare the current zones with what we had before the change, showing what the cost of a FEMA policy was then with what it would be now. Votes: Aye: 5 — Borno, Daugherty, Fletcher, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED C. Police Department Semi - annual Report. Chief Mike Classey reported that the Police Department won second place in the Law Enforcement DUI Challenge, third place in both the Click It or Ticket and the overall Law Enforcement Challenge, which are competitions between law enforcement agencies throughout the State of similar size and types. He stated the rewards the Department and City receives, which are almost the equivalent to a dollar /reward, have to be used specifically for traffic safety equipment. He further summarized the semi- annual report, pointing out the emergency response time is 2 minutes, 27 seconds. D. Sign Amortization. Building Official Mike Griffin gave background of the Sign Code Ordinance, stating as part of the revision to the ordinance in 2002, the existing signs that were not in compliance were grandfathered in and given ten years to be in compliance. He further summarized the staff report showing slides of the sign at 675 Atlantic Blvd which Mr. Ofer Kooba brought before the Commission. Mr. Griffin answered questions from the Commission. Discussion ensued. Mr. Hanson stated the staff report is a little misleading when it states three signs have come into compliance since 2009. He stated there were a lot more that came into compliance before then and there is a concern that a lot of people spent a lot of money upgrading these signs to meet the ordinance and if they do away with the ordinance he believes the City would be in a precarious legal position, having forced people to spend money and then doing away with the regulation. He stated they can extend the amortization without incurring that problem. Commissioner Fletcher asked that a list of those businesses that had non - conforming signs that voluntarily came into compliance, without a triggering event such as reconstruction, be provided. Mr. Hanson pointed out that they may not have been voluntary; for instance a number of gas stations changed dealers and when they put up a new sign they had to come into compliance. Commissioner Woods stated she would also like to include in that report how many of the businesses that have not come into compliance have situations like Mr. Kooba's, where there is no easy fix. Mr. Griffin stated there are approximately 57 signs that need to come into compliance. Discussion ensued. Motion: Extend Grandfathering provision to January 1, 2015 in the proposed ordinance. Moved by Fletcher, seconded by Parsons August 22, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 7 Commissioner Woods requested a letter be sent to all businesses who have not complied, asking if there are any circumstances stopping them from coming into compliance, so when they start looking at the ordinance they will know what the real problems are. Commissioner Daugherty clarified they were just asking staff to bring back an ordinance so they can reconsider this. Votes: Aye: 5 — Borno, Daugherty, Fletcher, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED Commissioner Woods further explained the letter she was requesting should not go out until they decide whether they are going to give an extension and how long it will be. She stated then the City should send a letter out to anyone not in compliance, telling them the date has changed and asking them to let us know why they have not come into compliance, explaining we are going to be reviewing the ordinance and want to know what the real issues are. It was the consensus of the Commission to do this. Commissioner Daugherty asked what the catalyst was that caused the sign changes. Mr. Hanson explained that was the start of the discussion about improving the Mayport Corridor. He stated that was also around the time they were discussing the median project with Jacksonville. Commissioner Daugherty stated he does not understand what changing the signs has to do with improving the Mayport Corridor, especially when half of the corridor is Jacksonville. Mr. Hanson stated when you don't have a lot of really tall signs in a big line it makes it look better and not as cluttered. Answering a question from Commissioner Woods, Mr. Hanson further stated, at Atlantic Beach's request, Jacksonville looked into and adopted a lot of the same zoning regulations and came back a couple of years later with their own overlay, which is not totally equal to the City of Atlantic Beach's, but it is close. Discussion ensued. E. South Coast Capital Proposal for Parking in Town Center. Public Works Director Rick Carper summarized the staff report, showing a slide of the parking lot submitted by South Coast Capital to go from 21 to 27 spaces. He explained they were required to provide additional spaces due to the change from Bookmark, a retail location, to a 75 -seat restaurant. He stated his concern is a safety concern. He stated current City Code does not allow commercial parking to back into an existing street. He explained the change in the parking lot would require that these spaces would always have to back into traffic, rather than being able to pull forward as the cars can presently. Mr. Hanson stated this is not a question of a variance; it is a question of meeting the provision in the City Code that says you cannot back out into a public street. He stated if it were a new plan the answer would be that it violates City Code, but because these were striped this way before, the issue is would this be considered grandfathered; or since the parking lot is being changed, should it come under the current code. Discussion ensued. August 22, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 8 Lindley Tolbert of Southcoast Capital, stated those six spaces are already there; they are not asking to change them, they want to leave them as they are. She stated people already back out onto East Coast Drive. She stated just because they become grandfathered in doesn't suddenly mean there are going to be traffic accidents; those six spaces have been striped that way for 27 years. She stated they own almost all the parking down there. She stated they provide parking while everyone else is getting variances and they don't ask for variances. She stated they are trying to be a partner and solve the problem by creating six more parking spaces and ten motorcycle spaces. She stated if it was really just about their tenant going in, they would have only created three more parking spaces. She stated after speaking with three engineers, they feel this is the highest and best use of the space. She stated they are not asking for something to be changed or suddenly exposing themselves to liability. She reiterated you have to back out of those spaces all the time. Commissioner Woods stated she agreed with Ms. Tolbert. She stated what she doesn't agree with is the grandfathering. Mr. Carper stated that "grandfathering" was his word but what he is really asking for is direction from the Commission not to treat this as a new parking lot. Motion: Direct staff to not treat the parking lot in question as a new parking lot. Moved by Fletcher, seconded by Daugherty Mayor Borno clarified this motion would mean accepting the proposed parking plan in the agenda with the angled parking, as was originally striped with the changes. Commissioner Woods asked, if it is not a new parking lot, does it even need an approval. Mr. Carper stated it still needs to be approved. Mr. Jensen stated they are telling them the requirements of the Code do not apply to this parking lot. Votes: Aye: 5 — Borno, Daugherty, Fletcher, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED City Manager 9. City Manager A. City Manager's Report. Mr. Hanson reported on the JTA bus stop issue on Royal Palms Drive, stating JTA has created some changes to the bus routing whereas all the stops will be on the west side of Royal Palms Drive, eliminating the pedestrian crossing and visibility issues. He stated JTA is still working with various owners of private property to get a transfer station. Mr. Carper stated this plan was put in effect last Monday. Mr. Hanson reminded everyone the Budget Workshops will be this Wednesday, August 24, to discuss Public Works, and August 31, to discuss Public Safety and Personnel, and, if needed, September 6. He stated we have an emergency issue related to the rehab of the water tank at Plant 4. He stated they discovered the top of the tank needs to be replaced rather than repainted. Ms. Kaluzniak explained after the tank was sandblasted it was found that the metal in August 22, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 9 the top was so thin that it wasn't able to be repaired and it needs to be replaced. She showed a slide from the inside of the tank. She stated our contractor obtained quotes from two different subcontractors and the lowest quote was $26,500 plus the contractor's additional bond cost, coordination and supervision of the crew and additional sandblast and painting of the new roof, for a total change order of $38,625. Motion: Approve the emergency expenditure as recommended by staff. Moved by Woods, Seconded by Fletcher Ms. Kaluzniak explained the bids for the 11 Street Water Main project were $50,000 under budget so she has enough money to cover this change order. Votes: Aye: 5 — Borno, Daugherty, Fletcher, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED Reports/Requests 10. Reports and /or requests from City Commissioners and City Attorney City Commissioners City Attorney Commissioner Daugherty • Asked Mr. Thompson to report on emergency preparedness. At his request, Mr. Thompson explained the City's hurricane plan. • Reported on the progression of the Tideviews pier. Suggested naming it Sunset Pier. Adjournment There being no further discussion, the Mayor declared the meeting adjourned at 7:57 p.m. Mike Borno, Mayor/Presiding Officer ATTEST: %id,,,e,„ Donna L. Bartle, CMC City Clerk