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Agenda Item 1 MINUTES REGULAR CITY COMMISSION MEETING November 14, 2011 CITY HALL, 800 SEMINOLE ROAD 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 6:00 p.m. Mayor Borno recognized former Mayors Lyman Fletcher, John Meserve, and Don Wolfson, former Mayor and Jacksonville Councilman for District 13 Bill Gulliford, former Commissioner Sylvia Simmons, Vice Mayor Kara Tucker and Mayor Harriet Pruette of Neptune Beach who were in the audience. Commissioner Parsons gave the Invocation, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. 1. Approve the minutes of the Regular Commission Meeting of October 24, 2011. Motion: Approve the minutes of the Regular Commission Meeting of October 24, 2011. Moved by Fletcher, Seconded by Parsons. Votes: Aye: 5 — Borno, Fletcher, Daugherty, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED 2. Courtesy of the Floor to Visitors. Mayor Borno opened the Courtesy of the Floor to Visitors. He recognized Bishop Percy Golden in the audience, welcomed the audience and explained the process for public comments. John November, 647 Beach Avenue, addressed the Commission stating he was here to promote MarshFest on Saturday, November 19, from 10:00 — 3:00. He stated he believes this will be the best MarshFest they have ever had and noted the various activities they will have this year, including a play, Woodrum the Woodstork, Prince of Tides. He further expressed his pride in the Tideviews, stating the ribbon cutting event gave him an over rushing of emotion and Tideviews will get more special over time. He also stated he looks forward to our new Commission, who he believes will do a great job leading them toward the future. He stated he is so happy the Commission tools the steps to do the master plan, but a plan is only as good as those who implement it. He stated we have to be creative, innovative and find ways to get the improvements paid for without it coming out of City dollars. He stated they need to go after grants and creative ways to raise money. Sally Clemens, 1638 Park Terrace West, asked the Commission why, in a City known for its restrictive sign language, did Atlantic Beach want so much verbosity on the already approved plaque for the sculpture, "In Search of Atlantis "? She stated the name of the artist and date seem more appropriate for this beautiful artwork. She also addressed Item 13B, stating although more study on the Police Station by a citizen committee as suggested by Commissioner Beckenbach is November 14 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 2 reasonable she believes our City would be better served and have more diversity if each Commissioner appointed a citizen for the committee from his/her district. She further thanked Commissioners John Fletcher and Paul Parsons for giving their time and service to our community and welcomed the new Commissioners Maria Marl, and Marl, Beckenbach. She also stated for the Commissioners to continue speaking into their microphones would be appreciated by the audience. Mayor Harriett Pruette, 217% Magnolia Street, spoke on behalf of the Dial -A -Ride Board and thanked the Commission for making it possible to keep the Dial -A -Ride bus going for another year. She stated the donation was very nice and much appreciated. No one else from the audience spoke so Mayor Borno closed the Courtesy of the Floor to Visitors. 3. Unfinished Business from Previous Meeting A. City Manager's Follow -up Report. City Manager Jim Hanson gave an update on the request for recycling containers to be put at beach access points, stating the Public Works Director has a staff report on the agenda tonight to talk about that. He stated the cost to pick up recycling with a separate truck route is more than the revenue from the sale and although paying more for recycling is a public value in terms of saving natural resources and landfill space, the question is whether they are willing to put more money into recycling and if so where would the money best be spent. He further reported on a prior complaint about storm drainage from a business owner on Mayport Road, stating the Public Works Director looked into this and realized both the adjacent lot and the lot of the owner , complaining had stormwater systems on them but neither were operating as permitted. He stated they both needed maintenance and Mr. Carper has advised both parties to fix their stormwater system which should solve the drainage problem. 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, the Utility Sales Report, and the List of New Business Tax Receipts for October 2011 and the Public Works and Utility Departments Project Status Report on November 2, 2011. B. Approve the Police union contract for October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012. C. Approve the Local 630 Blue Collar union contract for the period October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012. Mayor Borno read the Consent Agenda. Motion: Approve Consent Agenda Items A, B, and C as read. Moved by Parsons, Seconded by Fletcher. November 14, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Pag 3 Votes: Aye: 5 — Borno, Fletcher, Daugherty, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED 5. Committee Reports None. 6. Action on Resolutions A. Resolution No. 11 -27 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH, FLORIDA, SUPPORTING A FAIR SHARE OF THE FLEET'S DISTRIBUTION OF ASSETS TO NAVAL STATION MAYPORT Mayor Borno read Resolution No. 11 -27 by title. Motion: Approve Resolution No. 11 -27. Moved by Woods, Seconded by Daugherty Mayor Borno stated he requested this Resolution as a result of a request for our support from Mike Whalen to do what we could to get to the Department of Defense and other agencies to ask for fleet assets. He stated this Resolution is asking for a fair share of the fleet assets. He stated of all the Atlantic Fleet ships there are only 15 currently in Mayport and there are at least 170 -180 on the East Coast. He explained by asking for a fair share he is thinking about, not just carriers, but amphibs, tenders, supply ships, etc. Votes: Aye: 5 — Borno, Fletcher, Daugherty, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED 7. Action on Ordinances None. 8. Miscellaneous Business A. Town Center Agency Proposal for Holiday Decorations — 3rd Year. Public Works Director Rick Carper explained this is the third year of the planned three -year improvement to the Town Center decorations, with minimal decorations being added this year. Motion: Authorize Staff to work with the TCA on holiday decoration options and the City Manager to approve decorations to be purchased for installation in the City Right -of -Way. Moved by Woods, Seconded by Daugherty Commissioner Daugherty asked for clarification on whether Atlantic Beach is supplying the power for the lighting in Town Center. Mr. Carper explained which portions of the lighting will November 14 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 4 be supplied by Atlantic Beach but stated the majority of the lights being installed in this program will be powered from Neptune Beach. He stated the lights are LED lighting which is almost immeasurable. He stated the lifeguard chairs, surfboards and other decorations will essentially be in the same spots as last year. Votes: Aye: 5 — Borno, Fletcher, Daugherty, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED B. Public Hearing - Request from LA I Fitness for an exception to the height limit to accommodate an architectural element that exceeds the thirty -five (35) foot maximum height standard by three (3) feet on a property located within the Commercial General Zoning District at 985 Atlantic Boulevard. Erika Hall summarized her staff report explaining LA ( Fitness will move into the vacated Publix location and is requesting an exception to the height limit to add an architectural design element that exceeds the height limit by three feet. She stated Section 24 -156 of the Land Development Regulations allows the Commission to approve such elements. She stated the applicant was also here tonight. Mayor Borno opened the Public Hearing. No one from the audience spoke so he closed the Public Hearing. Motion: Approve the requested exception to the thirty -five (35) foot maximum building height to allow the proposed architectural design element which would exceed the standard by three (3) feet, finding the projection is consistent with the conditions stated in Section 59 of the City Charter and provided in Section 24 -156 of the Land Development Regulations. Moved by Parsons, Seconded by Daugherty Commissioner Daugherty stated he believes this is a very nice upgrade and is excited about them coming in. He stated this is just an architectural element and it ties it in with the company's other locations around the country. He stated he sees no problem with the exception. Votes: Aye: 5 — Borno, Fletcher, Daugherty, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED C. Agreement with Chesser Island Road Landfill, Inc. for Disposal of Sludge. Public Utilities Director Donna Kaluzniak stated in order to give ourselves some options from the tipping fees proposed by Jacksonville, staff investigated nearby landfills to dispose of our sludge at a lower cost. She stated Chesser Island Road Landfill's tipping fees are about half of what Trailridge Landfill charges us. She stated there is an extra cost for getting it there because it is farther but even accounting for that it would save us almost $63,000 /year. She stated this agreement allows us to take our sludge to them but does not require us to take it there and will give us an option should we end up having to pay landfill tipping fees. November 14 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 5 Motion: Approve the A14reement with Chesser Island Road Landfill, Inc. for and aut horize the City Manager to sign the Agreement. Moved by Woods, Seconded by Daugherty Commissioner Parsons asked if we have discussed with Neptune Beach about going in with us on this. Ms. Kaluzniak stated she has not spoken to either Neptune Beach or Jacksonville Beach about that, but she is sure Chesser Island Road Landfill would be happy to take their sludge as well as ours. Mayor Borno stated this was discussed with City Manager Jim Jarboe and he felt what they had for sludge was negligible to do this at this time. Commissioner Daugherty stated this gives us an option and saves our taxpayers a lot of money, while sending a clear message to Jacksonville that we are not a piggy bank and you can't raid us anytime you want to. He stated he would also like in the future for Atlantic Beach to combine our buying power with cities such as Neptune Beach and Jacksonville Beach to see if we can go together on some contracts, such as garbage, etc., to get a better deal. He thanked Ms. Kaluzniak stating she did a good job on this. Votes: Aye: 5 — Borno, Fletcher, Daugherty, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED D. Easement for City of Jacksonville Drainage. Ms. Kaluzniak explained this is a drainage pipe that has been in the ground for a number of years on the northwest edge of the Wastewater Treatment Plant No. 2 property. She stated it doesn't affect anything, but Jacksonville does need access to maintain it and asked if we would grant an easement. She stated she saw no problem with this request. Motion: Grant the easement to the City of Jacksonville for maintenance of existin dra inage and authorize the City Manager to sign the easement documents. Moved by Daugherty, Seconded by Fletcher Votes: Aye: 5 — Borno, Fletcher, Daugherty, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED E. Estimated Cost to Install Stamped Concrete Crosswalk at the Orchid Street Bike Path Crossing. Rick Casper summarized his staff report stating this was in response to a request made by Commissioner Daugherty. He stated he was given a quote of $4,600 for the stamped concrete crosswalk. He showed several slides of various crosswalks. He stated this amount is not currently in the Public Works budget. He stated to do a stamped asphalt crosswalk, as in Neptune Beach, would cost $1,50042,000, but it doesn't have the durability of stamped concrete. Discussion ensued. November 14, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 6 Commissioner Daugherty asked about the funds in the Gas Tax being used for this project. Mr. Carper stated the Commission would have to redirect the funds because the last direction was to use those funds for resurfacing. Discussion ensued. Motion: Install the stamped asphalt crosswalk at Orchid. Moved by Daugherty, Seconded by Woods Commissioner Woods asked if they would want to add more crosswalks like this. Mr. Carper stated this is the only mid - block crossing. Commissioner Fletcher stated, regarding the funds available in the local option gas tax enterprise fund, there is a consensus that the cost of oil is going up over the next six months or so which will drive the cost of asphalt up. He stated he believes Mr. Carper's budget will get a lot tighter as a result of that. Mr. Carper stated his intent on the resurfacing is to get some core borings on Selva Marina Drive which is the bulls of this year's project and then do the resurfacing project in January or February. Commissioner Fletcher stated he would like to put this off to be voted on by the next Commission, so as not to encumber the future Commission with this sort of change to our strategic planning. Commissioner Parsons agreed with Commissioner Fletcher. He would like to direct staff to get more bids and defer until the next Commission meets. Commissioners Daugherty agreed and withdrew his motion. Commissioner Woods withdrew her second. Consensus was to direct staff to research and get bids for the stamped asphalt crosswalk. F. Response to Request for City to offer Recycling at Beach Accesses. Rick Carper summarized his staff report, explaining the issues involved with the contamination of the recycle bins. He showed slides of the recycling currently in use. Mr. Hanson further explained not only are we paying a hauler to pick the recycling up in the public areas, we are also paying per can/bottle a lot more for our own staff to have to sort it by hand, so the cost of recycling this is a lot higher. He stated if the Commission wanted to put more money into recycling, either advertising to encourage more recycling at home or some other similar effort would get more bang for the buck than paying someone to hand sort the recycling. Commissioner Fletcher stated he was in favor of leaving this alone and delaying action until the new Commission takes office. Commissioner Parsons agreed. Commissioner Daugherty stated there is a company in Jacksonville who does the sorting and they want to put a bid in for the entire City for residential and trash pickup. He stated the new Commission should look at having a waste provider that does the sorting. Commissioner Wood thanked Mr. Carper for the information. Mayor Borno stated they would leave this alone for now. November 14 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Pate 7 G. Approval of JAG grant for police equipment purchase. Chief Mike Classey explained Item 8G and 8H are linked together so he would discuss them at the same time. He stated they are both sources of funding and one of the pieces of equipment that is being recommended for purchase cannot be purchased by either fund alone. He explained the Justice Assistance Grant, stating they received notification they were approved for $3,822 to purchase law enforcement equipment. He then explained the forfeiture funds. He explained the equipment identified for purchase would be a covert camera system for the CSU unit, at a cost of $8,225 and a DVR recording system for the camera at Tideviews Park, which will use all of the JAG funds and the forfeiture funds. He stated he was requesting the Commission's approval to make the application for the JAG grant and for approval to expend the forfeiture funds. Motion: Authorize the Mayor to sisn the related paperwork for the application and the subsequent paperwork related to the JAG grant, and authorize Michael D. Classey to submit the application on line and have the authorization to electronically sign the on -line application on behalf of the Mayor and the City. Moved by Woods, Seconded by Fletcher Commissioner Woods stated she understands there are some administrative costs associated with all of the grants and they don't see those costs in the reports. She asked that the hidden costs associated with grants be added in the future so they can see how the budget is completely affected. Votes: Aye: 5 — Borno, Fletcher, Daugherty, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED H. Forfeiture Funds. Motion: Approve expenditure of $6,000 of forfeiture funds for equipment purchases as described above. Moved by Daugherty, Seconded by Fletcher. Votes: Aye: 5 — Borno, Fletcher, Daugherty, Parsons, Woods Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED 9. City Manager A. City Manager's Report. City Manager Jim Hanson reported on the latest police deployment for alcohol sales to minors stating of 26 businesses checked, 4 sold alcohol to minors, one of which, Safari Food Store on Mayport Road, has had two other prior violations. He reported on a notice of suit from a bicycle accident whereby a bicyclist ran into a City truck driven by an Atlantic Beach employee at the intersection of Assisi Lane and Mayport Road. He stated this has been turned over to the insurance company. November 14, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 8 10. Reports and /or requests from City Commissioners and City Attorney City Clerk Bartle • Stated it been a pleasure working with Commissioners Parsons and Fletcher. Commissioner Daugherty • Stated he feels very strongly about the crosswalk on Orchid, stating it will also tie that community in to the rest of Atlantic Beach. • Stated Commissioner Fletcher is a brilliant man. He stated the one statement Commissioner Fletcher made that he will always remember is "to a roan with a hammer everything looks like a nail ". He stated it has been a pleasure and an honor to serve with him. • Stated he has enjoyed sitting next to Commissioner Parsons and appreciates his service. He stated Commissioner Parsons has left a mark on this City; he appreciates the patience he has had with him and he will be missed. Commissioner Woods • Stated although they haven't always seen eye to eye, she believes they have both done what they thought was right and have worked hard for the City through the years. She stated everyone appreciates their service. Commissioner Parsons • Thanked everyone. • Stated when the St. Johns River Water Management required the berms and retentions to save the water on people's yards, he wished there was some way to give back to the citizens who have been out of pocket so much money for the retentions and berms they had to put in. He would like the Commission to come up with some kind of a swap out for tree mitigation or something, so as not to give them the hardship of what the City /St. Johns River Water Management put them through. He stated he will speak with the new Commission about this. • Thanked the citizens for allowing him to serve. He wished the new Commissioners the best of luck and hopes they always make their decisions with an open mind, even if it hurts. He thanked them both for running an honest campaign that didn't separate neighbors. • Thanked staff for their help. He stated he made a lot of friends and especially wanted to thank those he worked closely with, Yvonne Calverley, Nancy Bailey, Donna Bartle, David Thompson, Alan Jensen, and Jim Hanson. • Stated he has learned a lot from his fellow Commissioners and believes he has never made a decision that he didn't feel was a right decision for the City. • Thanked his wife, Tracie, stating she has been his sounding board and his best friend through all these years. Commissioner Fletcher • Stated he had no prepared remarks and he hates goodbyes. • Stated he has enjoyed working with Commissioner Woods, Mayors Meserve and Borno, Commissioners Parsons and Daugherty. November 14 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Paae 9 ® Giving advice to Commissioners Beckenbach and Mark, he stated there is the pre - election public servant and the post - election public servant and that transition you go through is acquiring knowledge you were not privy to prior to actually getting into office and it changes you. He stated you become a different person on the other side than you thought you were going to be going in. He believes they will experience some growth and wind up understanding and knowing exactly what he is talking about. ® Thanked Donna Bartle, stating he has enjoyed working with her and Nancy Bailey and everybody in her office. ® Stated he has always enjoyed working with Alan Jensen. ® Stated the staff Jim Hanson has put together since he got here in 1999 along with his stewardship have made an incredible difference and shows the leadership of Jim as a City Manager. City Attorney Alan Jensen ® Stated it has been a pleasure working with Commissioner Fletcher and he has enjoyed their many discussions. He thanked him and stated he appreciated his service to the City. ® Stated he has also enjoyed his conversations with Commissioner Parsons over the years and appreciates his service to the City. Mayor Borno ® Stated he will miss both Commissioner Fletcher and Commissioner Parsons and welcomed the new Commissioners. He stated they will enjoy it, but there is a learning curve. He recognized and thanked his wife, Pat, in the audience, stating this December he will have been married 52 years. There being no further discussion, the Mayor declared the meeting of the retiring Commission adjourned at 7:07 p.m. November 14, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Palze 10 OATH OF OFFICE FOR SEATS 1, 2, AND 3: ® Maria Mark- Commissioner Seat 2 ® Mark Beckenbach - Commissioner Seat 3 ® Mike Borno- Mayor - Commissioner Seat 1 City Clerk Bartle administered the Oath of Office to Maria Mark (Commissioner Seat 2), Mark Beckenbach (Commissioner Seat 3) and Mike Borno (Mayor /Commissioner Seat 1). The signed Oaths of Office are attached and made part of this official record as Attachment A. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE NEW CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH IN ATTENDANCE: Mayor Mike Borno City Manager Jim Hanson Commissioner Mark Beckenbach City Attorney Alan C. Jensen Commissioner Jonathan Daugherty City Clerk Donna L. Bartle Commissioner Maria Mark Recording Secretary Nancy E. Bailey Commissioner Carolyn Woods Call to Order of New Commission: The meeting of the new Commission was called to order by Mayor Borno at 7:21 p.m. He welcomed the new Commissioners and stated he looked forward to working with them as a team. 11. Recognition of Outgoing Commissioners Mayor Borno presented Commissioners Parsons and Fletcher with a token of appreciation on behalf of the City and citizens of Atlantic Beach, stating they have both been great friends and have given great service to the City. John Meserve, former Mayor of Atlantic Beach, stated this past Commission has done wonderful work. He stated he had the privilege of serving with everyone who was on the Commission. He called Commissioner Fletcher the Newt Gingrich of the Commission. He stated he had the privilege for eight years of calling Commissioner Parsons out of order every week. He stated Mayor Borno is the last one standing here who knows squat about squat. He thanked each of them for their service. Mayor Borno explained what squat was. Bill Gulliford, 75 Beach Avenue, thanked Commissioners Fletcher and Parsons for their commitment. He stated he came tonight to show his full support to the new Commission. He stated they have a number of issues between the City of Jacksonville, Duval County, and Atlantic Beach, including the tipping fees. He stated although he went down in flames on a vote on that issue, he was encouraged that the vote was 11 -8, so all they have to do is turn 2 more. He stated he is the Chair of the Recreation, Community Development, Public Health and Safety Committee and is thinking of making the relationship between the beaches and the City of Jacksonville a topic of study for their committee after the first of the year. He stated he hopes they will be willing to participate. He stated they have now redrawn District 13 to include Mayport and the entire barrier island along with a little stretch across the Intracoastal Waterway on the opposite south part of November 14, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING P al4e 11 Jacksonville Beach. He stated he will be holding Town Meetings, one being on Thursday night in the in -town portion of District 13, and hopes to have one at the beach very soon. He encourages everyone to participate and stated he is available to everyone collectively and individually and anything he can do to assist them in the duties of their office as well as in serving them as a representative of the county. He congratulated Commissioners Marl-, and Beckenbach, stating they ran very good campaigns and he applauded them for their commitment to service. Tracie Parsons, 1970 Mipaula Ct., thanked her husband, Paul, for serving Atlantic Beach for the 8 years that he did, stating he has never made a decision that has benefited him in anyway, personally, or financially. She stated it is not in his DNA to lie or take advantage of any situation at any time. She stated he has studied the agenda, talked to people, looked at the City's financial statements and operating procedures and has made valid decisions every time to benefit the City of Atlantic Beach. She pointed out several things that he has done for the City. She stated she believes he has done a fabulous job and knows he will continue to watch over the City. 12. Action on Ordinances A. ORDINANCE NO. 20-11-112 - Introduction and First Reading AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH, FLORIDA FOR FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2010 AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2011. Mayor Borno read Ordinance No. 20 -11 -112 by title. Motion: Approve Ordinance No. 20 -11 -112. Moved by Mark, Seconded by Beckenbach Finance Director Nelson Van Liere explained every year after they close the books, the Accounting Department spends time putting all the final adjustments together. He stated the State allows 60 days for final adjustments to the budget. He stated this Ordinance was for the one final entry to adjust last year's budget, which included deductibles for a few law suits and general and police pension fund overruns, administrative expenses and retirement benefits. Mr. Van Liere answered questions from the Commission and further explained the adjustments. Discussion ensued. Commissioner Daugherty stated the City has a pension plan and insurance plan that is very generous. He encouraged Commissioners Mark and Beckenbach to sit down with George Foster and learn as much as they can and hopefully they can have a workshop soon. Votes: Aye: 5 — Borno, Beckenbach, Daugherty, Mark, Woods Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED 13. Miscellaneous Business A. Approve locations for Town Hall meetings. November 14 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 12 Motion: Schedule four town hall meetings, one per each Saturday in the mo nth of January 2012 to collect citizen input in preparation for the Commission's Strategic Planning Workshops scheduled for the end of February /beginning of Ma rch. Moved by Mark, Seconded by Daugherty Commissioner Woods stated she believes this is a good idea. Mayor Borno stated he understands what Commissioner Mark wants to do but instead of tying up four Saturdays he suggested having the meetings by districts all on the same Saturday led by each district Commissioner. Commissioner Mark explained her reasoning for having the proposed Town Hall meetings on different Saturdays would be to allow one for each district at each community center and one here in the Chamber. She stated this would give the citizens an opportunity to attend at least one of the four if they are not available on the one day it might be scheduled in their district. She stated it would also allow the Commissioners to attend all four of the Town Hall meetings, thus getting input city -wide as opposed to just their district. She stated her plan would be to have input from citizens, allowing the Commissioners to take away from each of those meetings a kind of wish list, broken down by issues, i.e. safety, amenities, transportation, etc., which would give them a working document at the Strategic Planning Workshops. Commissioner Daugherty stated he supports this and believes the timing is good. Commissioner Beckenbach stated this is an excellent idea. He stated now it is the citizens who will have to show up and tell their Commissioner what they should be saying at Strategic Planning meetings. Commissioner Daugherty asked that a notice be put on the website and publicize it in the newspaper as well. Votes: Aye: 5 — Borno, Beckenbach, Daugherty, Mark, Woods Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED Commissioner Woods stated she believes they should hold off hiring an Economic Development Director until after Strategic Planning so they can set the goals and objectives for the position and then hire the individual best suited to help us fill them, instead of hiring the individual and then coming up with what we want them to do. Secondly, she stated they have a LNF intern working on a thesis project who is looking at the economic development impact of the nuclear carrier at Mayport and it would be nice to have that information before they hire this person to work on these goals. She stated it would also be good to undergo an operational and organizational assessment and analysis of the City's organization, as suggested by Commissioner Daugherty, to look at how the City functions as an organization, and what our staff capabilities are. She stated she believes we have some talented people on staff who may be able to fill this position. She also stated money is a big issue because we have a big budget and pension issues that we need to sort out before we add another $100,000+ position to our payroll and pension obligations. She believes there are a lot of things to look at before putting this person in place and asked for consensus that we hold off on that and bring it up as an agenda item on the next meeting. Nov ember 14 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 13 It was the consensus to put this on the agenda for the next meeting. Commissioner Daugherty clarified that what he asked staff for was what Atlantic Beach would look like if certain position were eliminated or restructured. He stated he believes Commissioner Woods' comments are valid and Strategic Planning is a good time to figure out what positions we need and agreed we should hold off until then. Mayor Borno pointed out this position has already been advertised and the Commission should be careful where they delve into this because staff comes under the City Manager and they should not get into the micromanaging of staff. Commissioner Woods stated it was more of a policy process on the organization of the government and believes it is well within their realm to do an organizational study to help guide them. She stated pension is the biggest issue they have to look at and if they can't take a hard, honest look at themselves as an organization and see how they can tighten up and focus better in areas they need to, they will never be able to solve these problems. Mayor Borno stated he understands and the study is reasonable. He stated it needs to be discussed with the City Manager who will be the one who will give us guidance as we work on this. B. Discussion of proposed Police Building and creation of Police Building Task Force. Mayor Borno stated before deciding what steps to take in resolving the Police Building needs, they need to understand how they got here. He stated the problem has been looked at over several years by several Commissioners and they have spent several hundred thousand dollars. He stated we now have two new Commissioners who have not yet been made aware of that background and he believes they should take the time to review this in a workshop before deciding any other steps. He stated he appreciated Commissioner Beckenbach's suggestion but believes it would be smarter to defer the action tonight and go for a workshop. Commissioner Beckenbach stated he understands but saw a pre -bid that was sent out saying that the City of Atlantic Beach was going to be looking at building a large building and he is concerned. Mayor Borno stated he had no knowledge of this. Motion: Defer until they can workshop this it Moved by Borno, Seconded by Daugherty Assistant City Manager David Thompson explained he has not sent anything out asking anyone for bids, or anything of that nature. He stated they have done nothing as far as bid specs, etc., but many are aware because part of what our architects did was prepare a set of bid specs. He stated beyond that they have done nothing and have not initiated anything as far as asking for anything from anybody at this point. He stated they have put this on hold until this Commission is up to speed and can make decisions on where they want to go. He reiterated they are not actively pursuing anything right now until they get directions specifically from the Commission. Commissioner Woods stated she believes they would be doing a disservice to postpone. She stated this was a major campaign issue for Mark Beckenbach and he got overwhelming support on this issue and she believes this is really what the people want. Commissioner Daugherty stated Commissioner Woods just said she believes everybody is in agreement that we need a new building. Commissioner Woods stated she believes most people are. Commissioner Daugherty pointed out that in paragraph #2, it states the task force will be November 14, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 14 assigned to expand the current facility; it is not looking at a new building. Commissioner Woods stated that is the same concept, we need to improve what is there now or build new. She stated with postponing, when we are coming into the holiday season, it just gets further delayed. Commissioner Mark agreed they need a workshop, given the fact that she and Commissioner Beckenbach are new and were not involved in all the nuances that led to this major project. She stated she still believes Commissioner Beckenbach should have some comment since it was his motion originally to bring this subject up. Commissioner Beckenbach explained he has been to the workshop and budget meeting for the police building and in both cases what he heard was that we are in need of a 14,000 s.f. building for this size town of approximately 13,000 people. He stated during his campaign he found that one of the stickiest points throughout the meet and greets was the fact that there was going to be a $4.5 million, 14,000 s.f. building instead of a renovation. He stated after walking through the current building and talking to Chief Classey he believes they should give the citizens the opportunity to have a committee and find out what the needs are. He stated his thoughts were to put this on hold, have the citizen committee that he has selected, and then come back in six months and go forward. Mayor Borno stated he understood what Commissioner Beckenbach was doing which is why he felt so strongly about making a motion to defer so they could workshop this. He stated a lot of what he is discussing will come up in that and then if they choose they can work from there towards a committee. Discussion ensued and a vote was taken on the deferral. Votes: Aye: 3 — Borno, Daugherty, Mark Nay: 2 — Beckenbach, Woods MOTION CARRIED Mr. Hanson stated staff will call the Commissioners for their availability to set up the workshop. 14. Comments from Mayor and Commissioners Commissioner Daugherty • Assured the Commission and public that no more money will be spent on the Police Building until after the workshop phase. • Welcomed Commissioners Mark and Beckenbach. He stated this election spoke to him very deeply and pointed out that 13S made the difference in their election. Commissioner Mark • Thanked Paul and John for their service to the community, stating they are to be commended for their leadership and professionalism as our elected officials and wished them the best of luck in the future. • Thanked the citizens for their support during the election and stated she looks forward to their participation and involvement as this new Commission moves forward. • Thanked her family, Bob and Garrett and her Mom, and her friends. • Looking forward to serving the next four years and to what they can accomplish together. November 14, 2011 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Page 15 • Assured all that the decision she will make may not be popular but will be based on careful consideration of all sides of the issues. She stated they were elected to represent all of the citizens of Atlantic Beach and it will be her goal to ensure that all voices are heard and represented to the best of her ability. Commissioner Beckenbach • Thanked everyone for coming this evening and those who supported him in his campaign. • Thanked Paul Parsons for being the gentleman he was during the campaign. • Recognized his mother, father and wife who were in the audience and thanked them for their support. • Looking forward to being a public servant of the citizenry of Atlantic Beach. Commissioner Woods • Welcome aboard. City Attorney Jensen • Welcomed the new Commissioners, stating he looked forward to working with them both. Mayor Borno • Finding the middle ground is the most important thing sometimes. • Needs a workshop on pensions before the 10"' of December and staff will be calling them. • Welcomed the new Commissioners aboard and looked forward to them being able to work as a team. He stated that does not mean they will agree with each other about everything. Adjournment There being no further business to come before the Commission, the Mayor declared the meeting adjourned at 8:23 p.m. Mike Borno Mayor /Presiding Officer ATTEST: Donna L. Bartle, CMC City Clerk