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Item 1A- Draft Minutes of 7-11-16MINUTES REGULAR CITY COMMISSION MEETING July 11, 2016 IN ATTENDANCE: Mayor Mitchell E. Reeves Mayor Pro Tern Jimmy Hill Commissioner Harding Commissioner John Stinson Commissioner M. Blythe Waters CITY HALL, 800 SEMINOLE ROAD City Attorney Brenna Durden City Manager Nelson Van Liere City Clerk Donna L. Bartle Invocation and pledge to the flag Mayor Reeves gave the Invocation, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Call to Order: AGENDA ITEM #lA JULY 25, 2016 Mayor Reeves called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. City Clerk Bartle called the roll and Mayor Reeves noted that a quorum was present. Mayor Reeves explained the Commission will not take action tonight on Item 3A, but they will have a discussion. He also explained the Aquatic Drive project is not on the agenda and gave a status of the project. 1. A. Approve the minutes of the Commission Meeting of June 27, 2016. Mayor Reeves asked if there were any conections to the above minutes. There were no conections, so Mayor Reeves stated the minutes stand as submitted. Mayor Reeves explained the process for public comments and spoke about recent comments made about the Commission. 2. Courtesy of the Floor to Visitors Mayor Reeves opened the Comiesy of the Floor to Visitors. City Clerk Bmile called each speaker to the podium. Dolly McCormick, 792 Aquatic Dr. distributed a petition. She spoke about flooding at Aquatic Gardens and suggested ways to help prevent flooding. Louise Ann Hunley, 591 Aquatic Dr. spoke in favor of the petition presented. She expressed concerns about the current development in the area by TriBridge and spoke against making changes to the dog park. James McCue, 660 Aquatic Dr., spoke in opposition of the TriBridge project, explaining his handout to the Commission and asked that they read it and pay attention to it. Chris Jorgensen, 92 W. 3rd St., spoke of the 4th of July event at Tideview Park at the pier. He explained he is sony to see Freddie with Public Works has depmied and to see Jeremy going. He stated he attended the Pension meeting and has concerns about pension, but he is also concerned about July 11, 2016 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING AGENDA ITEM #1A JULY 25, 2016 Page2 inadequate parking at Town Hall. He suggested 3-story parking garages. He spoke in favor of moving the concrete sculpture that is located outside of City Hall. He suggested the extension of the trolley to meet the needs of the citizens. He would like to see more activities for the kids such as Robotics. Paula O'Bannon, 304 1st St., passed out a book she has written about Atlantic Beach to everyone in attendance. She appreciates the effort put fmih regarding the disappearing sidewalks and parking. She mentioned recent articles in the paper and hopes that sidewalks on her street will be put back and not become one big driveway. She suggested better marking for sidewalks through driveways and asked that the sidewalks be outlined in a noticeable way. She stated she agreed with another citizen about orange paint to mark where the lines would be for development of new projects. She stated it is hard not to respond back when speaking. Lisa Herrold, 659 Sherry Dr., spoke in opposition of the Safe Routes to Schools on Sheny Drive, stating the telephone poles are too close to the sidewalk and many will be in the actual sidewalk. She explained the dangers of these poles once the sidewalks are in place. and asked the Commission to speak to the citizens affected by the route. She invited each Commissioner to walk the nine blocks of Sheny Dr. with her. She expressed concern for the trees in place and feels they will suffer damage. Susan Perry, 179 Pine St., refened to the policy E.l.3.5 regarding private development. She explained she is distressed and almmed over the Gate Station and now with the dog park and offered thirty seconds of prayer for the trees and the animals that lost their lives today. Mark Tingen, 1198 Sandpiper Ln E., thanked the Commission for what they do. He also thanked the City of Atlantic Beach Police, stating they do a remarkable job. He encouraged anyone to take the police course each year that is offered and learn more about the police department. Susanne Barker, 1938 Beachside Ct, spoke regarding the tree removal on Aquatic Dr. for the Brownfield project. She expressed concerns about the animals that live in that area and the gopher tmioises that are a protected species. She inquired if there had been an environmental study. She also expressed concerns that the Charter and Codes are not being applied properly and requested that the Commission consider a stop work order. City Clerk Bartle read the names and comments from the citizens who did not want to speak, as follows: Henry Domingo, 405 Aquatic Dr. in support of the petition regarding the flooding. Mardie Le Bouton, 774 Aquatic Dr. in support of the petition for flooding. Rita Yonder Haar, 450 Aquatic Dr. in suppmi of the petition for flooding, but not in suppmi of the 23- unit apartments. Linda McWayne, 510 Aquatic Dr. in suppmi of the flood petition, but not in support of the 23-unit apartments. Duffy McWayne, 510 Aquatic Dr. in suppmi of the flood petition, but not in support of the 23-unit apmiments. No one else from the audience spoke. July 11, 2016 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING AGENDA ITEM #lA JULY 25, 2016 Page3 Mayor Reeves suspended the rules and offered the opportunity for the Commission to respond to comments they heard tonight. Commissioner Stinson requested that the City Manager do his due diligence to follow up with TriBridge to dete1mine whether animals are being killed at Aquatic Drive for the development. He requested the City Attorney review the minutes of the City Commission meeting where they voted on the TriBridge development to make sure their actions where appropriate. He requested that the City Manager give the Commission a plan or at least a cost estimate for upgrading or updating our Stmmwater Management system, explaining we need to do what we are supposed to do to keep our citizens from having water in their homes. Commissioner Hill asked staff to continue to follow up on the flooding issue to con·ect what we can fix. He stated they need to look at putting structures back that have some grade and elevation. He spoke about the TriBridge development and explained he would have prefened if they could have kept density at a lower level. He suggested that when a concrete pour is made at a property line, it needs to delineate with a different surface or a different color at a property line on every occasion in order to solve 80-90 percentage of our intrusion issues and explained why it is important. Commissioner Waters explained to those on Aquatic Drive who did not feel as though Aquatic Drive drainage was being addressed in the budget process; it is on the mind of the City Manager and our Public Works Director to not only do the work, but to make sure everything needed is budgeted. She explained the City's efforts to address the flooding issues and some of its challenges. She commented on the Brownfield project explaining that because of recent changes to our tree ordinance, tree mitigation is the best it's ever been; that developer will have to do more than any other developer has in te1ms of replanting on site and paying into mitigation; the trees that they plant on site will be higher quality trees in terms of shade and canopy than those that were taken down. She stated the City has done a lot under previous Commissions with the help of Community members and our hard-working staff to see that tree mitigation is addressed in a reasonable and most advantageous way possible to the City. She explained the environmental perks of tying into the existing drainage system. Commissioner Harding explained just prior to the last tropical storm we were threatened with, he made a conscience effort to drive through the Aquatic Gardens and Royal Palm areas and he did see a lot of debris and over growth. He stated he contacted the city manager and had crews sent there to clear it up. He explained there is a lot of work to be done and stands behind the citizens in the attempt to get those drainage areas the best they can be. He stated these issues are a priority and are being addressed. He stated he will take the citizens up on their offer to walk SheiTY Drive and asked that she send her contact information to him by email. Mayor Reeves stated that some people feel it is unusual to do this, but he feels it is important so it is known the citizens are being listened to. He thanked the first speaker for providing solutions. He mentioned a previous suggestion for a vacuum truck, stating that the vacuum truck was in the budget for 2015-2016, but the previous Commission took it out. He explained there are other solutions to have pumps on standby. He stated that the dog park is a wonderful park, but it was purchased as a retention pond and planned for enlarging later if needed. He explained this Commission could vote to turn it back into a retention pond. He asked that the citizens give the Commission a chance to solve problems. He expressed his amazement that he heard so much over the weekend about the trees at the Brownfield, but no comments were made about the trees being taken down at the library in Neptune Beach. He urged citizens to call Commissioners and the City Manager for answers and facts before listening to rumors. July 11, 2016 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING 3. Unfinished Business from Previous Meetings A. Safe Routes to Schools Route Selection. AGENDA ITEM #lA JULY 25, 2016 Mayor Reeves reiterated that this item is for discussion only and will not be voted on tonight. Page 4 Public Works Director Don Jacobovitz distributed and explained his revised report (which is attached and made part of this Official Record as Attachment A) and his recommendation. Mr. Jacobovitz and Mr. Van Liere answered questions from the Commission. The Commission discussed the project. Commissioner Hill stated he would like to see drawings on how the existing infrastructure is going to be incorporated. He explained why he does not believe the project on SheiTy Drive will work with the existing layout and does not want another bad project that has to be conected later. Commissioner Waters believed it is wasteful to let a grant like this slip through our hands when improved walkability in our city should be a goal. She stated this is for our citizens and the safety of children. She requested data to dete1mine where the kids are coming from and where the path is going. She would like to move forward with a project that works for the city and uses federal money, not city money to improve walkability in our city. Commissioner Stinson explained that if they are going to do this with a safe route to school in mind, we need to know where the children are coming from so a path can be built for them to get to it. He explained there is a need for the larger paths, but it needs to be for the light reason. He compared the route on Plaza Drive to the route on Sheny Drive and believes there is more interaction with all kinds of hazards. Mayor Reeves encouraged any new data that can be obtained before the July 25' 2016 meeting. He explained he has not seen anything written from DOT or JT A that says here is your deadline; he would be surprised if DOT would not allow us more time to get better data and can't imagine them putting a time clock on the project if they want to do what is right. Commissioner Harding explained wanting to get more community input. He stated there is a need for sidewalks to run east and west even if it is not the Safe Routes to Schools Grant and believes we owe that to our residents. He does not see why this is time sensitive. He would like another community meeting and see the routes in order to make a legitimate, educated decision; one that we are not going to be sony for later. The Commission discussed the Town Hall meeting scheduled for Saturday, July 16, 2016. There were scheduling conflicts with tlu·ee Commissioners. Discussion ensued about the timelines and rescheduling the Town Hall meeting. Mr. Jacobovitz answered questions from the Commission. There were suggestions made to mark the path and to mail a bright neon notice of the Town Hall meeting to everyone along the proposed route. Mr. Jacobovitz offered to videotape the marked path. It was the consensus of the Commission to postpone the Town Hall Meeting, have the City Clerk reach out to each Commissioner to see when the Town Hall meeting can be rescheduled as soon as possible and put it on the agenda when it is ready to be discussed. Mayor Reeves called for a break at 8:38 p,m. and reconvened at 8:45p.m. 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 AGENDA ITEM #lA JULY 25, 2016 July 11, 2016 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING PageS DOCUMENTATION AND STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS HAVE BEEN PREVIOUSLY SUBMITTED TO THE CITY COMMISSION ON THESE ITEMS. A. Acknowledge receipt of the Monthly Recreation Programs/Special Events Report for May 2016. B. Approve Submittal ofFY 2016-2017 CDBG Grant Projects Application. C. Approve continuing our relationship with Harden & Associates to continue to act as the City of Atlantic Beach's Broker of Record for employee benefits and property and casualty insurance. City Clerk Battle read the consent agenda. Motion: Approve the Consent Agenda Items A, B & C as read. Moved by Waters, Seconded by Hill Votes: Aye: 5 -Harding, Hill, Stinson, Waters, Reeves Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED 5. Committee Reports A. Creation of an Independent Auditor Selection Committee. Finance Director Russell Caffey explained his report. Motion: Have Commissioner Stinson sit on the audit selection committee. Moved by Hill, Seconded by Harding Mr. Van Liere explained the commitment involved in being on this Committee. Votes: Aye: 5 -Harding, Hill, Stinson, Waters, Reeves Nay: 0 MOTION CARRIED 6. Action on Resolutions None. 7. Action on Ordinances A. ORDINANCE NO. 20-16-139, Introduction and First Reading AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH, FLORIDA FOR FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2015 AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2016 FOR APPROPRIATING FUNDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT GRANT, AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. City Clerk Bartle read the Ordinance by title. City Manager VanLiere explained the Ordinance. July 11, 2016 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING Motion: Approve Ordinance No. 20-16-139 as read. Moved by Harding, Seconded by Stinson City Manager Van Liere answered questions from the Commission. Roll Call Votes: Aye: 5-Waters, Harding, Hill, Stinson, Reeves Nay: MOTION CARRIED 8. Miscellaneous Business (Discussion only) AGENDA ITEM #lA JULy 25, 2016 Page 6 A. 16-UBEX-101-Request for a use-by-exception as pe1mitted by Section 24-111(c)(3 and 5), to allow on-premises consumption of alcoholic beverages in accordance with Chapter 3 of the code and limited wholesale operations at 725 Atlantic Boulevard Unit 3 and 15. Planner Derek Reeves presented a slide show as he explained the request and the Community Development Board's recommendation with conditions. He asked for Commission consensus to move the item forward to a Public Hearing on July 25, 2016. Mayor Reeves asked the applicant to come forward to answer questions. The applicant stated his name and address as Charles Hom, 13783 Deer Chase Place, Pablo Bay. Mayor Reeves asked Mr. Hom what a comfortable number would be for him in order to limit the amount of people because of the parking in the area. Mr. Hom explained the size of the place and believes 75 is more than reasonable. Mayor Reeves asked him if he would be in agreement if they add a condition to restrict to at least 75 and Mr. Hom agreed. Commissioner Harding asked about hazards during the brewing process. Mr. Hom explained there is a boiler in the brewing process, but it is low pressure. Commissioner Hill asked about shielding the back of the building directly North. Mr. Hom explained they will only open their back door once every two weeks to send pallets out, the parking will be in parking spaces against the fence, and the only thing at the building next to wall will be an air conditioning unit. Commissioner Hill asked who regulates micro breweries and Mr. Hom explained there are federal and state agencies and requires three licenses. Planner Reeves answered questions from Commissioner Hill about whether manufacturing at this location is allowed in our Code. Mayor Reeves asked Mr. Reeves if this item is brought back on July 25, 2016 for a public hearing, would he have the recommended condition he asked for and could it be added as a condition. Mr. Reeves agreed to bring something and said it could be added. Discussion ensued about getting a number from the fire marshal to use as that number. Commissioner Waters asked the applicant if there are concems about air quality inside the building, or brewing smell and exhaust for the surrounding area. Mr. Hom stated there should be no concems about it whatsoever inside or outside the building. Mr. Reeves explained the zoning and the noticing requirements. The consensus was to move this item forward to a public hearing on July 25, 2016. 9. City Manager A. City Manager's Report. 90-Day Calendar (July 2016 through September 2016). • Repmied on upcoming items on the calendar: The budget workshop schedule is Monday, August 15, 2016 and Wednesday, August 24, 2016 and the board member appreciation is July 11, 2016 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING AGENDA ITEM #lA JULy 25, 2016 Page 7 being proposed for September 29, 2016. Mayor Reeves explained the status of the Town Hall meeting. • Thanked Derek Reeves for stepping up to handle planning, zoning and community development issues. • Reported that on July 20, 2016, the City of Jacksonville is hosting the Hunicane Season Regional tabletop exercise. • Repmied he spoke with Jeremy Hubsch regarding CRA. They are wrapping up with the funding of the necessity portion of the project and a draft redevelopment plan should be coming to city staff within a couple of weeks. • Repmied the finance depmiment has taken over the business tax receipts. There are a couple of issues that have not moved over. • Reported he met with Neptune Beach and the Beaches Town Center about a plan to develop a town center overlay. He stated they will meet again this week. • Repmied the St. John's River Management District has approved a grant application to install a new meter in our commercial area for radio reads so the data can be obtained without having to physically read the meters. He explained this will be included in next year's budget. • Explained he would like to have a consensus on whether or not the Commission wants to spend the funds to have the City Attomey work on some optional legislation that Ms. Durden is ready to explain. 10. Reports and/or requests from City Commissioners and City Attorney City Attorney Durden • Reported there are five things that have been mentioned to her as possible projects moving forward and asked for a consensus in regards to prioritizing what the Commission would like her to work on. 1) A resolution regarding temporm·y signs-She explained the Supreme Comi Case of Reed v. Town of Gilbe1i and recommended that the Commission suspend the enforcement of temporary sign regulations that may be in the Code until such time that the sign code can be modified to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court case. She offered to provide something for the next meeting if the Commission agreed to make it a priority. Mayor Reeves stated that this should be placed on the July 25, 2016 agenda under discussion only to see if the Commission wants to move it forward. A discussion ensued. 2) A potential moratorium on service stations-She explained she has received several comments regarding this and has spoken to the City Manager and other cities with concems like ours. She explained the notice requirements are two readings, one public hearing, and a notice published in the newspaper ten days before the public hearing. She has researched some examples for moratoriums on automobile service stations. There is a lot of concem in the community about service stations. A moratorium allows the City the time it needs to go back and look at those concems. During a moratorium, no application would be accepted by the City. It could be placed on the agenda as early as July 25, 2016 for discussion purposes. A discussion ensued. 3) A Neighborhood Assessment Program-She explained there is a desire to move forward in the City with the Neighborhood Assessment Program. This is a utility undergrounding program that would be geographic in nature and within that geographic boundary. She believes 75% would have to vote an assessment on their prope1iy then July 11, 2016 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING AGENDA ITEM #lA JULY 25, 2016 Page 8 JEA would come in and underground the utilities. There seems to be community suppmi for this. 4) An urban chicken ordinance for the community. 5) An ordinance to allow for golf carts in the community. Commissioner Hill expressed concerns about getting into a legal funding issue. He believes staff can handle the chicken and golf cart ordinances and they do not have to be done right now. He would like to look for a more economical solution to some of these real simple projects. Commissioner Waters offered to bring the urban chicken ordinance if Commissioner Hill does the golf Cali ordinance. Mayor Reeves explained the purpose of this discussion was to see what we want the City Attorney to help us with while we try to get the legal cost down. Mr. Van Liere stated the resolution on temporary signs and the moratorium are out of his league because of the reasons they al'e being considered. He explained he has an extensive amount of data regarding the overhead to underground utilities that he can give to the City Attorney and can prepare a draft of a chicken ordinance and golf Cali ordinance for legal review. City Clerk Bartle • Introduced Tracy Thompson as her new administrative assistant. Commissioner Stinson • Thanked Ms. O'Bannon for the book. • Wished Jeremy Hubsch all the best in his future endeavors. • Appreciated the Mayor's thiliy second moment of silence at the beginning of the meeting for law enforcement personnel all across the county. • Gave the City Manager an update that he has not been able to get any pump vendor to give a written quote for Public Works. He stated he would like the City Manager and Mr. Jacobovitz to buy the best value that we can get. Commissioner Hill • Asked if there is still money being spent on the CRA if it is not being moved forward on. A discussion ensued. Believes there is a real need to reinstate a Tree Board, stating it would be beneficial to staff. He will bring something to the Commission. • Would like to see a rough architectural drawing of the ped path modification necessary for Sheny Drive with utilities included. Commissioner Harding • Would like to see the Aquatic Gardens drainage be put on priority with Public Works streets and drainage and if there are blockages because of the issues brought up tonight he would like to see some allocations in next yeal·'s budget to create a proactive maintenance program for the drainage. • Would like to get a report regarding the animals and the trees and what was done prior to the removal of the trees and foliage before construction. Would like to know what effmis were taken to preserve the animals in that area. • Stated we are very fortunate to have Chief Deal and his officers continue to come to work amid the negativity going on nationwide. July 11, 2016 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING AGENDA ITEM #lA JULY 25,2016 Page 9 • In reference to the Town Hall being postponed, please keep in mind budget meetings are coming up next month and a lot will be going on. • Will be attending the Hurricane Season Regional Tabletop exercise with Chief Deal. • Would like to look at placing lighted crosswalks and the costs of placing them at busy intersections of the City for safety. Would also like to look into some additional east and west sidewalks for bicycle and pedestrian safety. • August 2, 2016 thru August 7, 2016 he will be out of town. Commissioner Waters • Expressed thanks to Jeremy Hubsch as he moves on to other things and also thanked all the employees for the hard work they do. • Would like to see an update at the next meeting about the new software implementation and how it is going. • Expressed interest in a tree board or committee with a role of being more proactive in bringing projects and things to the City that they would like to see done as opposed to actually deciding on individual projects. • Would like to see direct mailers go out to any home along the direct path notifying citizens of the Town Hall meeting, once it is scheduled. • Explained an incident that occmTed today of a dog dying of heat stroke. She stated she would like to advise that dogs get hot and cannot sweat and asked to please keep your pets inside and out of the heat. • Expressed the tragedies that have occurred in the United States and abroad serve as a reminder that black lives matter and blue lives matter. We have to take concerns from our law enforcement and our citizens seriously. We have to work to reconcile the divisions and divides that they represent. • Gave a shout out to our police depatiment for all they do. • Asked that we all give respect to each other. Commissioner Hill asked the City Attorney to look into the concerns brought up about the use of park land in our Code and provide the answers to the City Manager. Mayor Reeves repotied that according to emails, the City Manager has already spoke to her about it. Mayor Reeves • Supports a tree committee that would do positive things for the City such as one that would educate new people moving here and builders. • Repotied he has met with the City Manager and Don regarding the drain on Magnolia and Pine and asked that a letter go out about a neighborhood block meeting. • Thanked Chief Deal for the great job the officers did on the 4th of July. • Apologized that his phone went off during the meeting, explaining he forgot to put it on airplane mode and that the message was from his wife letting him know his dinner was in the refrigerator. • Expressed how enjoyable it was this weekend as several citizens approached him and stated that he and the Commission are doing a great job. • Read a quote from Willie Nelson and asked everyone to think positive and get the facts before assuming things. Adjournment July 11, 2016 REGULAR COMMISSION MEETING AGENDA ITEM #lA JULY 25, 2016 Page 10 There being no further discussion, Mayor Reeves declared the meeting adjoumed at 10:05 p.m. ATTEST: Donna L. Bartle, CMC City Clerk Mitchell E. Reeves Mayor/Presiding Officer AGENDA ITEM: DATE: SUBMITTED BY: BACKGROUND: STAFF REPORT City of Atlantic Beach Commission Meeting Safe Routes to Schools Route Selection ATTACHMENT A MINUTES JULY 11,2016 July 11,2016 _//. ()/-;, j~:f ~~&~ Donald D. Jacobovitz, P.E., Public Works Direct~ J? The Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS) Route Selection was discussed at the June 27, 2016 Commission Meeting and aWorkshop preceding that meeting. At those meetings, the Public Works (PW) recommendation was to select the path that followed the east side of Sherry Drive and Seminole Road for many reasons including that it was the safest route of the various routes considered, it provided the least amount ofuncontrolled crossings, sufficient right-of-way exists, and surveying and design for this alternative is approximately 30% complete. During discussions at the above mentioned meetings, it was suggested that students may be coming from other directions than supported by the proposed path. I mentioned that demographics change from year to year. A path selected and built this year, may not support the greatest number of users in future years, but from all the information we have, it does support the greatest number of users at this time. A SRTS should be selected based upon the best known facts available at the time of its construction. It was suggested that east-west routes leading to and from the school from its rear entrance using David Street and Seaspray Avenue should be evaluated. It was also suggested that the City may consider building more than one alternate route to branch out where the students live. I discussed the selection ofalternate routes with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), the Atlantic Beach Elementary School (ABE), the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA), and the City's Consultant who has supervised this project design. I also inspected the proposed alternative routes. The following are the results ofthese discussions,and my inspection. The FDOT representative, Roo.sevelt Petitihomme, reiterated his comments he had given the City in the past. The path provided already to FDOT can be changed, the amount of funding for this SRTS project remains the same, and it is good that the City has engaged the public on this project. With this in mind, the amount spent to date would be coming from the entire project budget of$671,034 ($125,000 for design, $461,974 for construction, and $84,060 for CEI services). Any additional funds expended above this amount to complete, change, or extend the path would be the responsibility of the City. This includes the design fees as well. The FDOT representative was not supportive of using four or five feet wide sidewalks as a SRTS or to extend a SRTS. The right-of-ways on David and Seaspray up to Seminole are limited in width and will not support a multi-purpose path (MPP) of 8 feet or more in width which is preferred by the FDOT. The Seaspray right-of-way widens after crossing Seminole Road to the west. A MPP could be constructed here; however, there would be telephone utility and tree conflicts all along this path. These conflicts would be more than on the currently proposed path. The path could eventually meet up with Sailfish Drive and travel north to tie into the existing MPP on Plaza Drive. This path could go east to the five-way intersection at Seminole Road. The MPP could then travel down Sherry Drive to the ABE. As I mentioned, the FDOT representative was not supportive of the SRTS along the portion of Seaspray with limited right-of-way. Any improvements in this area or any other path than the originally proposed route would probably be the responsibility of the City especially if any of the design, survey, and utility coordination fees exceed the amount originally programmed for the project. I then met with the Principal of Atlantic Beach Elementary School (ABE), Mindy McLendon. Mrs. McLendon was well aware of the proposed path down Seminole Road and Sherry Drive. The infonnation she gave me was based upon her observations and was not an official policy of the ABE or the School District. The following comments represent the results of our meeting: • Mrs. McClendon said she could not give us information from where the students originate. It does seem that 80% or more of the ABE students are residents of Atlantic Beach. • The school only has one bus to pick up its students. • There is a large percentage of walkers and bike riders, perhaps greater than 50%. • Ofthe other students, approximatelyhalfride the bus and half are brought to school in private vehicles. • Students can enter the rear gate of the school in the moming and leave by that gate after school; however, the school does not endorse that mainly because of the neighborhood's complaints of the restrictions in their access on Seaspray Avenue and Poinsettia Street. If the back gate becomes part of the SRTS project, the increased traffic on Seaspray and Poinsettia will exacerbate the access problems (and complaints). It appears that most of the students who enter that gate are being dropped off by private vehicles. There is a Crossing Guard posted at that gate in the momings, and the gate is locked during the day. • Based on Mrs. McClendon's observations each day, she feels the majority of the students who walk or ride to school would be best served by the SRTS route recommended by City Staffbecause they appear to be coming from the north and east of ABE I next spoke with Chris LeDew of the JTA. The JTA is the Local Agency Program (LAP) coordinator for projects in our area which use FDOT, or in this case, Federal Highway Administration funding to complete. Our SRTS project has been coordinate.d through them. Mr. LeDew was concerned that we had not progressed further through the design scope of our originally selected path. He made several points which we should keep in mind while moving forward with this project. These points are as follows: • We performed our due diligence in selecting this project, qualifying it through the LAP process, and getting it awarded. • At some point, the City needs to let our residents know that the City does own the right- of-way through which the SRTS MPP will follow and it intends to complete this project. • Minor changes in the deviation of the path would be acceptable, but the cost of major route changes would most likely have to be borne by the City. • The drainage and utility reviews for the proposed path have already been completed through the design process so far. The cost of these activities for any other route would be significant and would become the responsibility of the City. • The ITA is willing to wait until the end of this month for the City to move forward with this project. After that, they most likely would put the City on notice that significant progress needs to be made to ensure the design of this project (which has been placed on hold at the 30% mark) occurs so that construction can be completed in the next fiscal year. • The funding of this project plans for the construction to occur in the State's 2017-2018 fiscal year which begins next July 1st. Funding for this program has been affected by a movement from the SRTS program to a new "Safety Walk" program. Since this project is one of the first of this kind within FDOT's District 2, it is being significantly observed as a way to program and expend funds for safer transportation alternatives. Construction may actually become available before July 1st, 2017. I also spoke with Derek Gil of our consulting firm, ELEMENT Engineering Group, who is designing our SRTS project. He told me their work began after the City had already selected the path along the east side of Sherry and Seminole. Their survey, design work, and utility coordination were all performed for the east side of these roads. Their design work was based upon a need for the 449 of 461 enrolled students at ABE that lived on or near the selected path. This information was provided by the City in their application for the SRTS grant. They received a fu1iher work request after a Town Hall Meeting to draw a proposed path along the west side of Seminole from Five Points to 15th Street. This Alternate Design was drawn without additional survey or utility coordination being done. That would have to be completed if this path is chosen for the SRTS. While not specifically mentioned by either Mr. Petitihomme or Mr. LeDew, I firmly believe that the City's resolve, or lack thereof, in completing this project as originally requested may seriously impact our ability to receive future grant funding through the FDOT or other funding sources managed by the ITA for roadway and off-roadway projects. Our request for these funds was taken by each of their agencies as a genuine need for improvements. Now that we are several years down the road from their approval of these funds, and we haven't shown progress towards agreeing on what we want to do, they may be hesitant to review our future requests because they may not believe we would accomplish what we sought out to do. BUDGET: The negotiated public involvement support fee ($6,136.57) is being paid from the Public Works Professional Services account (001-5002-541-3100) with no additional funding required. The City will be obligated for design fees (~$50,000) if the project is canceled, funding source to be dete1mined, if needed. FDOT has budgeted $687,000 for design, construction and construction support efforts. RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff recommends the Commission approve the original route keeping the entire multi-purpose path on the eastern side of ShelTY Drive and Seminole Road. ATTACHMENTS: None REVIEWED BY CITY MANAGER: _______________ _