Minutes / 05-03-991
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n MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL CALLED MEETING OF ATLANTIC BEACH
CITY COMMISSION, HELD IN CITY HALL AT 5:00 PM ON MONDAY,
MAY 3, 1999.
Present: Suzanne Shaughnessy, Mayor
Richard Beaver, Commissioner
Mike Borno, Commissioner
John Meserve, Commissioner
Theo Mitchelson, Commissioner
Also: Maureen King, City Clerk
Alan Jensen, City Attorney
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Shaughnessy.
1. Discussion and possible action relative to the proposed flyover at the intersection of
Mayport Road and Atlantic Boulevard .
The Mayor indicated that Commissioner Borno had requested that this meeting be called, and asked
for his comments.
n Commissioner Borno said that he had received many comments from citizens opposing the proposed
flyover. He said that while he voted in September to support the flyover, he had changed his mind
and no longer supports that portion of the project.
Following brief discussion, Commissioner Borno moved to rescind the previous action of the
City Commission regarding the flyover proposed for the intersection of Mayport Road and
Atlantic Boulevard. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Mitchelson. (The action taken
on September 2, 1998 was as follows: Motion -Accept the proposed plan of the flyover and instruct
staffto become very much involved in the final design phases of said plan. The motion was approved
by a vote of 3 - 2 with Mayor Shaughnessy and Commissioner Mitchelson voting nay).
Discussion ensued and Commissioner Borno indicated he supported the 6-laving of Atlantic
Boulevard, but not the flyover.
Commissioner Mitchelson said he was already on record as opposing the flyover and indicated he had
not changed his mind. He felt the flyover would just relocate the traffic jam four blocks to the north.
Commissioner Meserve felt that while the flyover may not be the perfect solution, he felt that even
with the construction of the Wonderwood Road, improvements were much needed at this
intersection. He said that the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) had considered many
options and felt that the flyover was the best solution, and he did not want the JTA to withdraw the
money and not do any improvements at all.
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May 3, 1999
Commissioner Beaver said he was interested in this matter because had heard that the Navy had
changed their position regarding the proposed improvements. He had heard that the new Navy
position was that when the proposed Wonderwood Road was constructed and the lights on Atlantic
Boulevard and Mayport Road were synchronized that the flyover would not be necessary.
Captain Jan Gaudio, Commanding Officer of Mayport Navy Base, indicated his position on the
proposed improvements had not changed. He was concerned about congestion at that intersection
on a daily basis but also felt that since Mayport Road was the only way to enter and exit the base,
improvements were need for emergency evacuations. He submitted a letter supporting this position,
a copy of which is attached as Exhibit A, and indicated that in the event this position changed, he
would notify the city in writing.
Commissioner Beaver inquired whether there was any anticipated increase in personnel at the base.
Captain Gaudio responded that he expected the personnel level to remain fairly constant, but reported
that there was a possibility the base could get a nuclear carrier.
Based on Captain Gaudio's comments Commissioner Beaver indicate he would continue to support
construction of the Flyover.
Discussion ensued regarding the cost of the flyover and whether other options maybe less expensive
and Mayor Shaughnessy felt that the city's position on this matter should not be based on cost, but
rather, what was best for this community.
Mayor Shaughnessy said she had asked for a representative from JTA to attend this meeting or at
least apprize the City of any changes in the design; however, they had neither attended the meeting
or submitted any updated drawings. She said she knetiv that changes had been made but did not know
what the new configuration was. The Mayor noted that in previous plans she felt that the elevated
portion too high and that a better solution might be possible. She listed her reasons for opposition
to the flyover as follows:
1. The proposed structure violates the city's height ordinance of 35 f~.
2. Felt the design is flawed.
3. The project was designed 12 years ago, before Wonderwood was designed. She would prefer
to build Wonderwood first, then see if the flyover was still needed.
4. It was only the elevated portion which she found objectionable.
5. Allowing the roadway to fail could be a method of growth management
The question was raised regarding whether the JTA would have to request a variance to the city's
on height ordinance and City Attorney Jensen was asked to check into this and respond to the City
Commission at their meeting the following Monday.
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Minutes -Special Called Meeting
May 3, 1999
Dezmond Waters 1835 Seminole Road, felt elected officials must enforce the city code regarding the
35 ft. height limitation and urged the City Commission to put pressure on the JTA to solve this
problem a different way. He pointed out that the JTA proposed to replace the current overpass at
Mayport Road and suggested the JTA move this portion of the project up in the schedule and do the
entire improvement project at one time rather than doing the work in two phases.
Patricia Pillmore, 995 Camelia Street, said the flyover would block exits out of Section H. The
Begonia Street exit would be closed with Tresca Park improvements and she felt the loss of
additional exits onto Mayport Road would change traffic pattern for people going to work and would
increase traffic in residential neighborhoods.
J.P. Marchioli, 414 Sherry Drive, suggested extending the length of the east-bound off-ramp from
Atlantic Boulevard to Mayport Road and provide two lanes instead of the current one lane on the
flyover. He said he would like to see a final plan for the proposed improvements.
Stephen Kuti, 1132 Linl:side Drive, indicated he would support anything that would relieve the
t ~ congestion at Atlantic Boulevard and Mayport Road. He indicate that he and Joseph Posch had
submitted drawings to JTA to solve the problem. He also felt the traffic lights should be managed
better and also supported an additional east-bound lane on the off-ramp at Mayport Road.
Alan Potter, 374 Second Street, said that Roger Sharpe of the JTA had acknotivledged that the timing
oftraffic lights had not yet been coordinated. Mr. Potter pointed out that the current configuration
placed the flyover at the highest point of the current structure which he felt created a safety hazard
because ofthe very steep grade. He suggested locating the flyover at a more westerly point which
he felt would be more cost effective and also would provide a safer road.
Mrs. Friedemann, 1898 Selva Marina Drive, indicated she was speaking on behalf of her daughter
who lived on Main Street. She felt the public had not been given a chance to speak to this issue before
it was a done deal. She agreed that there was a problem at that intersection, but felt the flyover was
not the best way to solve the problem. She felt the flyover would have a negative impact on property
values, Levy Road and Main Street would have increased traffic, and traffic would have difficulty
crossing Mayport Road to get to businesses.
Commissioner Mitchelson said he wanted to alleviate traffic into and out of the base. However, he
did not feel the flyover was the best solution. He felt the after-Wonderwood projected traffic
estimates may be flawed and did not think that traffic would increase on Atlantic Boulevazd after
Wonderwood Road was built. He did not feel the flyover would assist in emergencies since traffic
would all be going westward and the flyover would not be utilized.
Commissioner Meserve said that he understood that with JTA it was an all or nothing situation and
he felt if the choice was between doing nothing and doing the flyover, then the flyover should be built
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Minutes -Special Called Meeting
May 3, 1999
because there would be a much greater problem if nothing was done. He expressed concern
regazding additional traffic on Plaza if the flyover was not built. He felt Wonderwood Road would
bring additional traffic, especially on weekends and did not want Atlantic Beach to become a
throughway for people coming to beaches.
Commissioner Bomo felt the JTA should do a better job of scheduling their projects. He noted that
construction was scheduled to begin on Wonderwood Road in the fall and he said he understood the
JTA was planning to move up the construction of Beach Boulevard and Atlantic Boulevard bridges,
thus, leaving all exits from the beach under construction at the same time.
Commissioner Mitchelson did not believe the 7TA would be enforcing the "all projects or none."
The Mayor was concerned that the flyover would just shift the traffic jams to another place and
expressed concerns regarding encroachment of comrriercial vehicles into residential areas. She felt
that if the timing of the lights was better managed, traffic problems would be significantly reduced.
She felt the flyover was an extreme solution which negatively impacted the quality of life for the
adjoining neighborhoods. She said she had learned the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)
n planned to double the number of traffic lanes coming to the beach and with the proposed projects,
Atlantic Boulevard would be under construction for seven years. She suggested meeting with the
other beach cities to press harder for another solution. She also suggested sending a letter to the
Florida Department of Transportation requesting that when roads are ready to use, that all possible
traffic lanes be opened for use to alleviate traffic problems.
Don Phillips, 1566 Park Terrace West, felt that poor management of traffic lights was causing traffic
backups. He felt the JTA should condemn properties to redesign the intersection at ground level.
The Mayor felt that a cloverleaf design may provide a "single level" solution, and Commissioner
Beaver felt that the original design called for a clover leaf. Commissioner Meserve felt, however, that
several single level options had been considered and had been rejected because the JTA did not feel
they would work. Commissioner Meserve said he would like to discuss this matter again with the
JTA, and have them restate their position, and reasons for selecting the flyover.
Commissioner Meserve moved to defer action on the motion to rescind previous action on the
flyover until the JTA engineers can come out and restate their position. The motion was
seconded by Commissioner Beaver and failed on a roll-call vote of 2 -3 with the Mayor and
Commissioners Borno and Mitchelson voting nay.
The City Commission then voted on the motion to rescind their previous action regarding
the flyover. The motion carried on a roll-call vote of 3-2 with Commissioner Beaver and
Meserve voting nay.
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May 3, 1999
Commissioner Beaver moved to request that JTA officials be invited to attend a workshop
meeting in Commission Chambers to discuss the flyover, along with their charts, their facts,
and figures; and to clear up any misunderstandings related to the flyover; to inform the City
commission of any changes made since the September 2, 1998 meeting. The motion was
seconded by Commissioner Meserve and following further discussion, was unanimously
approved.
The Mayor suggested that the meeting with JTA be a positive, constructive meeting, not a
confrontational one, but a meeting to explore any common ground which may exist. The City
Commission concurred.
Commissioner Meserve said he would like JTA to discuss the various options which had been
considered and their reasons for rejecting them. He requested that Mr. Potter sketch a structure such
as he had suggested earlier in the evening and submit tiffs drawing to the City Manager to be submitted
to the JTA in time for them to consider it and be prepared to discuss it at the meeting being
scheduled. The City Commission concurred.
Commissioner Mitchelson pointed out that the JTA had held several meetings to receive public input
and suggested the meeting with the JTA be a Commission workshop meeting as opposed to a
meeting to solicit further public input. He felt such a workshop would be more productive for the
City Commission. The Mayor agreed and said the public would be welcome to attend but would not
be allowed to participate.
In further discussion, Commissioner Mitchelson said that he would like confirmation that JTA was
exempt from Atlantic Beach city codes and referred to a recent newspaper article wherein it was
pointed out the JTA was not exempt from Jacksonville's tree ordinance. Since this project is on DOT
roads the question was also raised regarding whether the DOT would be exempt from the Atlantic
Beach codes. It was also the consensus of the City Commission that the City Attorney clarify
whether or not any type of Commission vote would be required on the project before it could
commence.
Commissioner Borno also requested that the letter to JTA point out that the City Commission was
opposed to the elevated portion of the intersection improvements only, and not the project, in general.
Mayor Shaughnessy moved to send letter to FDOT to ask if they would open portions of
Atlantic Boulevard as soon as completed rather than waiting until nett summer when the road
is scheduled to open. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Borno and carried
unanimously.
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May 3, 1999
2. Any other business:
The Mayor, as liaison to the First Night Committee, sought the wishes of the City Commission
regarding the Millennium celebration, i.e. whether the First Night activities would suffice as the
Millennium celebration, or whether Commissioners wished to have additional celebrations. She also
inquired whether the City Commission wished to hold the Millennium celebrations on New Year's
Eve 2000 or 2001 First Night celebration this year. Following brief discussion it was consensus that
celebrations could be held on both years.
There being no further discussion or business to come before the City Commission, the Mayor
declared the meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m.
SUZANNE SHAUGHNESSY
Mayor
n ATTEST:
MAUREEN KING
Certified Municipal Clerk
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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
NAVALSTATION
MAYPORT, FLORIDA 32228-0112
IN REPLY REFER TO:
5000
.'~
Ser 00/ ~_~ , ..~,
!1AY 0 ~ :o ^, r,
EhIiIBIT A
Atlantic Beach City Commissioners,
I am writing you to express my concern for and support of the
construction of the Atlantic Boulevard and Mayport Road flyover.
Every commanding officer has a primary responsibility for the safety and
quality of life of those who live and work within their command. I take that
responsibility quite seriously. Naval Station Mayport's military and
civilian navy staff must enter and exit the base via Mayport Road. The vast
majority travels through the intersection of Atlantic Boulevard and Mayport
Road. Under normal conditions, the intersection traffic is heavy. During
peak morning hours, traffic is frequently backed up onto Atlantic Boulevard
and presents a dangerous situation as vehicles broach the intercoastal
bridge. In the peak evening hours, traffic can back up for several blocks on
Mayport Road.
With construction of the Wonderwood Connector, north and south traffic on
Mayport Road/AlA can be expected to increase as travelers enter and exit at
Mayport Road. The planned flyover is engineered to significantly improve the
traffic flow along this restricted corridor.
A real concern for all of us who live at the beach should be the ability
~~ of our families to reach safety durinc a hurricane evacuation. The increased
traffic flow that the flyover will al_ow is even more critical during an
evacuation when time can be measured .n lives.
The flyover represents a wise investment in infrastructure that supports
the safety of our citizens and future development of our community. It also
signifies the strong partnership between the Navy and Jacksonville that
ensures the vitality and development of Naval Station Mayport.
I urge you to remain steadfast in your support of this project that is so
critical to the safety and well being of our community. Please feel free to
contact me at (904) 270-5201 to discuss this worthwhile project further.
Sincerely,
JP.N C . GAUDIO
Captain, U.S. Navy
Commanding Officer
Naval Station Mayport
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