Item 1A Minutes 2-9-15IN ATTENDANCE:
Mayor Carolyn Woods
MINUTES
REGULAR CITY COMMISSION MEETING
Febmary 9, 2015
CITY HALL, 800 SEMINOLE ROAD
City Manager Nelson VanLiere
City Attorney Richard Komando
AGENDA ITEM #lA
FEBRUARY 23, 2015
Mayor Pro Tern Mark Beckenbach
Commissioner Jonathan Daughe1iy
Commissioner Jimmy Hill
Commissioner Maria Mark
City Clerk Donna L. Bartle
Recording Secretary Nancy E. Bailey
Call to Order/Pledge:
Mayor Woods called the meeting to order at 6:30p.m. Commissioner Hill gave the Invocation, followed by
the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
1. Approval of Minutes
A. Approve the minutes of the Commission Meeting of January 26, 2015.
B. Approve the minutes of the Joint Workshop of January 26, 2015.
Mayor Woods asked ifthere were any conections to the above minutes. There were no corrections, so Mayor
Woods stated the minutes will stand as submitted.
2. Courtesy of Floor to Visitors
Mayor Woods opened the Courtesy of the Floor to Visitors. She welcomed the audience and explained the
process for public comments.
Chris Jorgensen, 92 W. 3rd St., stated he has total admiration for the Charter Review Committee and
believes they are a guiding force for the City. He also addressed the District Elections, stating having the
district representatives elected at large is very similar to having the City as a single district. He stated the
individuals from the district should be elected by the district residents themselves and not the City at large
because a high voting district can control everything in the City. He further stated citizen petitions should not
require 25%.
Don Rhoder, 810 Hibiscus St., asked that the Commission have Commissioner Daugherty resign his
position. He stated he has broken the law and needs not to be making judgments on the people of Atlantic
Beach. He stated he has pictures of him changing tags from his cars, which is taking money from the State of
Florida. He stated they need to pressure him to resign his position.
No one else from the audience spoke, so Mayor Woods closed the Courtesy of the Floor to Visitors.
3. Unfinished Business from Previous Meetings
A. Atlantic Beach Country Club-Acceptance of Utilities for Ownership and Maintenance.
Public Utilities Director Donna Kaluzniak stated they have received all of the documents needed and there is
no reason, as far as staff is concerned to delay acceptance of the utilities.
February 9, 2015 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING
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FEBRUARY 23, 2015
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Motion: Accept the water, sewer and reclaimed water infrastructure in the Atlantic Beach Country
Club subdivision for ownership and maintenance.
Moved by Daugherty, Seconded by Mark
Commissioner Beckenbach asked for how long are the prices good that we have established for the reclaimed
water.
Ms. Kaluzniak stated she believes they would change with the pricing of our other water pricing, which
would be for some reason such as a regulatory requirement. She stated it is not a set schedule; it depends on
our potential cost. She stated the last rate change we did was related to the TMDL, which she believes was
just sewer rates. She stated we can change the rate at any time but there is usually a reason associated with it.
She stated the cost for the reclaimed water is related to the cost of potable water at 75%. Discussion ensued.
Mr. VanLiere reported there will be an amendment to the master agreement. He stated there was a section
that he talked about when they developed the utility rates on a calculation method that was not feasible to
perform. He stated they went ahead and adopted our rates based on the market but that section of the master
agreement will need to be amended. He stated it has already been written but he needs to get it to the Club to
see if they agree to the language then he will bring it back to the Commission. He stated they are proposing
to strike out the language on how a rate would be calculated and replace it with the fact that we adopted an
ordinance with the rates in it and they would go by those rates. He stated staff met with them about a month
ago and they tentatively agreed that the rates we approved were in line with what they expected. Ms.
Kaluzniak stated what we are proposing is the bulk rate that the Commission approved earlier, which was for
any utilities using a 4" meter or larger, and they are using a 6" meter.
Votes:
Aye: 5-Beckenbach, Daugherty, Hill, Mark, Woods
Nay: 0
MOTION CARRIED
B. Release and Settlement Agreement between City of Atlantic Beach and City of Jacksonville resolving
all existing disputes between them relating to tipping fees.
City Manager VanLiere explained this is the final resolution of our outstanding balance of the tipping fees
and the release of any future requirements to pay and also reduction in future rate for the disposal fees of
sludge from our sewer plant. He stated upon execution, along with the budget ordinance, we will fund
$322,000 as an agreed upon amount to settle the entire outstanding balance.
City Attorney Komando explained there is one change on page two, paragraph 5, as indicated in the copy
given to the Commission tonight. He stated the prior agreement and the one that was in the agenda packet
discuss that the tipping fees beginning June 1, 2014 would be paid for by our hauler contract. He stated that
issue was picked up by Jacksonville's Council auditor as they went through and the General Counsel's office
called him this morning and asked if we would consider mutual amendments to remove the provision after
the words tipping fees, because in the future we may decide to pay it on our own or outside of the hauler
contract, and they thought it was cleaner to just delete that language. He stated this is on Jacksonville's
agenda tomorrow night for second reading. He stated their process is, after second reading, it will have to go
to a committee and after it is passed out of committee, depending on their recommendation, it will be placed
February 9, 2015 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING
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on the Consent Agenda for third reading, which is when they would adopt it. He stated, potentially, they are
looking at two weeks.
Motion: Authorize the Mayor to sign the attached Release and Settlement Agreement and authorize
the City Manager to pay Jacksonville the amounts due upon this agreement being fully executed by
both parties.
Moved by Beckenbach, Seconded by Mark
Commissioner Mark stated, for the public, she wanted to make sure that we aren't actually dipping into any
of our reserve accounts to pay this. Mayor Woods stated we aren't dipping below the 25% mandatory
reserve. Mr. VanLiere explained this is the Unrestricted Fund balance ofthe General Fund.
Votes:
Aye: 5-Beckenbach, Daugherty, Hill, Mark, Woods
Nay: 0
MOTION CARRIED
4. Consent Agenda
None.
5. Committee Reports
None.
6. Action on Resolutions
None.
7. Action on Ordinances
A. Ordinance No. 20-15-129, Public Hearing and Final Reading
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH,
FLORIDA FOR FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2014 AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2015,
AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
Mayor Woods read the Ordinance by title.
Mayor Woods opened the Public Hearing. No one from the audience spoke so she closed the Public Hearing.
Motion: Approve Ordinance No. 20-15-129 as read.
Moved by Mark, Seconded by Daugherty
Votes:
Aye: 5 -Becken bach, Daugherty, Hill, Mark, Woods
Nay: 0
MOTION CARRIED
8. Miscellaneous Business (Discussion only)
February 9, 2015 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING
A. Beaches Town Center Wayfinding Signage.
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FEBRUARY 23, 2015
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Mayor Woods stated this item has been defened; they are still trying to work on our request from before.
B. Grant Research Based on Assessed Needs Report.
City Manager Van Liere stated the consultant, Mr. Langton, is here to update the Commission on his
progress.
Michael Langton, Langton Associates, 1300 Oak Haven Road, Jacksonville, gave a report on what they
have been doing on the City's behalf since October. He stated he is working with Commander Gualillo to
submit some grants in early March to the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, one for the hardening and
shuttering of the current police building and also one for generators and shutters for the EOC. He stated they
will be tier 3 projects, which means they get the third priority, and the likelihood isn't great, unless we get
another storm in the next year, but is certainly worth the effort. He stated if this comes together in the next
few days, he would like to present it on the next agenda on 2/23. He stated, in addition, Mr. Layton is
working on the SJR WM cost sharing program. He stated those applications are due March 13 and he would
like to get their approval on March 9. He further outlined other opportunities that are coming up.
Commissioner Mark stated she would like to see Mr. Langton meet with the City Manager and Department
Heads and discuss the next steps and prioritize according to worldoad, projects, deadlines, etc. and then come
back with a report on the top five grants.
Mr. Langton answered questions from the Commission.
9. City Manager
A. City Manager's Report.
• 90-Day Calendar (February-April2015)
Mr. Van Liere noted there will be a Special Called meeting for the Community Development Board variance
appeal on March 23 and a Town Hall meeting on April 1 &. He also asked for dates to meet on the Charter
Review Committee. Mayor Woods stated she would like to have these workshops on 2/23/15 and 3/9/15 at
5:00 pm and asked if these dates were okay with the Commission. The Commission agreed to these dates.
Reported they are progressing forward with the Police Building. He stated staff has met with the architects
and it looks like the footprint of the building will accommodate the office space they need.
Reported that the Auditors are here.
Stated the annexation with Jacksonville is moving forward. He stated Mr. Komando delivered a proposal to
him today from Jacksonville's legal counsel.
Reported the Pension Board met last week regarding the assumed rate of return and both Police and General
Boards agreed to lower their assumed interest rate to 7%. He warned the Commission that it is going to be
expensive. He stated the actuaries will present their report at the next Pension Board meeting and then they
will get the amount the City will have to contribute to the funds for next budget year.
AGENDA ITEM #lA
FEBRUARY 23, 2015
February 9, 2015 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING PageS
Rep01ied he and Jeremy Hubsch have been talking about saving the tree canopy, stating some things the City
can do are to designate Atlantic Beach as a Tree City USA through a Proclamation, which would coincide
with naming an Arbor Day to coincide with the National Arbor Day; update the Tree Code and prepare Tree
Code educational brochures for citizens; grow our own local trees with reuse water on vacant City property;
work with some forestry individuals on creating a list of the most suitable places to plant trees; and have a
follow-up to the tree canopy analysis.
10. Reports and/or requests from City Commissioners and City Attorney
City Clerk Bartle
• Showed the Commission that we still have a Chmier Review Committee Webpage with links to the
minutes, agendas, audio files, etc.
City Attorney Komando
• Annexation is moving f01ward and the proposal is very similar to the one that we proposed to
the City of Jacksonville. He stated they will have a better report at the next meeting.
• Stated if they have any questions about things that occurred during the Charter review please
feel free to contact him between meetings and he can explain what the discussion and
conversation was.
Commissioner Hill
• Reported the last old growth tree came down on his neighbor's lot today. He stated it was all done
legally but if tree removals continue at this rate, he doesn't believes they are far enough ahead of the
problem and believes we need an emergency action to do a correction to our tree ordinance.
• Stated cost is not involved in a lot of our capital projects and he believes cost should be the driving
force on any of our projects. He stated the cost of the concrete was his specific issue at the last
meeting and they blew it off like it doesn't matter. He stated he wants to see those costs.
• Related to the citizen who spoke tonight, he explained the Commission does not have any policing
power over themselves. He stated they do not have the ability to take action on anybody. He stated
he didn't want it to be left unmentioned and have a perception that the Commission just ignored a
citizen. He stated the Commission is just not the body that handles that particular scenario.
Commissioner Daugherty
• Agreed with Commissioner Hill about the trees. He stated as he looks around the City, he sees our
trees disappearing.
Commissioner Beckenbach
• Thanked the City Manager and City Attorney for their work on the tipping fees and for continuing the
annexation.
• Stated he knows how much time and effmi the Chmier Review Committee put in. He, personally,
believes they did a phenomenal job and wanted to thank that group.
• Appreciates that staff is working on the tree issue and thanked Mr. Hubsch for taking the time to
spend with him. He agrees that something has to be done and done very quickly.
• Reported on the visioning meeting with Commissioners Hill and Mark, stating he would like to pursue
it further with another meeting in the near future.
February 9, 2015 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING
Mayor Woods
AGENDA ITEM #IA
FEBRUARY 23, 2015
P-age 6
• Stated as far as Commissioners' responsibility, they as the Commission have no jurisdiction in that
matter; it is strictly up to the State and what they decide is what they decide.
• Stated there is a process for the tree ordinance and all recommendations go through the Community
Development Board. She stated she believes they are taking this issue up on Febmary 17. Mr.
Hubsch stated it will come back to the Commission on March 9.
• Stated she has such respect for the City Manager and the City Attorney for their work with
Jacksonville on the tipping fees. She stated they have solved that issue and she believes it is a fair
resolution. She thanked both of them for their efforts on that.
• Stated she believes the Charter Review Committee did a wonderful job and she looks forward to the
next two workshop discussions so they can continue moving this process forward.
• She stated she prefers Miami curb to the 6" curb recommended for Seminole Road.
• Reported the Beaches Chamber will have their Annual Mayor's Luncheon this Thursday and she will
be there representing Atlantic Beach.
Adjournment
There being no further business to come before the Commission, Mayor Woods declared the meeting
adjourned at 7:24p.m.
ATTEST:
Donna L. Bartle, CMC
City Clerk
Carolyn Woods
Mayor/Presiding Officer