Minutes / 05-12-99MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL CALLED MEETING OF ATLANTIC BEACH
CITY COMMISSION, HELD IN CITY HALL AT 5:00 PM ON WEDNESDAY
MAY 12,1999.
Present: Suzanne Shaughnessy, Mayor
_ Richard Beaver, Commissioner
Mike Borno, Commissioner
John Meserve, Commissioner
Theo Mitchelson, Commissioner
Also: David Thomson
Alan Jensen, City Attorney
Maureen King, City Clerk
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Shaughnessy.
1. Discussion and~related action in connection with property in the Intracoastal Waterway
currently owned by Centex Homes
The City Manager reported that he, along with the City Attorney and city staff members, had met
~, with representatives of the City of Jacksonville earlier in the day to discuss the purchase of the Centex
property. He said that Jacksonville would like Atlantic Beach to commit to contribute $190,000.00
towazds the purchase of the property and also agree to be a co-applicant in the grant application He
explained that Jacksonville would get additional points toward the approval of the grant if Atlantic
Beach agreed to be a co-applicant. In addition, they would like Atlantic Beach to commit to the
management of the park. A copy of the City Manager's report is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
The City Manager further explained that any monetary commitment the city made would not have
to be paid until the next fiiscal year -between October and December. He also said that Jacksonville
had made no commitment to put Atlantic Beach on the deed and by so doing, Atlantic Beach would
not be liable for insurance costs. The City Manager explained that under the conditions of the grant,
the property would be required to remain as park land for at least ten years. However, the down side
of not owning the property, he said, would be that a future Jacksonville administration could sell the
property or allow it to be used for other purposes.
Discussion ensued and it was explained that up to 90% of the property could be left natural and only
10% would need to be developed and this could be as simple as providing some parking and opening
up some trails. City Manager Thompson explained that the grant application would come before the
City Commission for approval at the meeting of May 24, 1999.
Commissioner Mitchelson said that while he would be willing to consider the $190,000 as a targeted
goal for the 1999/2000 budget, he was concerned regarding making a financial commitment of
$190,000 of unbudgeted funds. He also said he was uncomfortable making a commitment to maintain
property which did not belong to the city. Commissioner Mitchelson also noted that the grant
required that the land be used for parks for a period often years. However, he felt that while Atlantic
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May 12, 1999
Beach enjoyed a good relationship with the current Jacksonville administration, he suggested that a
deed restriction be included which would preserve the land for parks in the future in order to prevent
a future administration from selling the land or allowing it to be used for other purposes.
City Manager Thompson felt that Jacksonville would be willing to make a written commitment to
preserve the land for parks beyond the ten years required in the grant. He also indicated that Atlantic
Beach could be a co-applicant even if no financial commitment was made.
Commissioner Borno favored being a co-applicant but was not in favor of making a financial
commitment until the matter could be considered during the budget process. Commissioner Borno
said he would like to have some idea of the cost of insurance, but City Attorney Jensen pointed out
that Atlantic Beach did not have an option to hold the deed (and therefore would not be liable for
insurance coverage).
Commissioner Beaver inquired if there would be any consequences if Atlantic Beach did not
contribute anything towards the purchase. City Manager responded that he felt Jacksonville was
more interested in having Atlantic Beach undertake the maintenance. Commissioner Beaver said he
would like to find out whether it would be detrimental to the transaction if Atlantic Beach did not
participate in the purchase. Commissioner Beaver said he would like clarification on the boundaries
of the property and an aerial map was provided by the Mayor and a boundary map was provided by
the City Clerk.
Commissioner Meserve noted that this was not a budgeted item, and that the property vas not in
Atlantic Beach. He said he felt the city did not put enough money into Public Works projects and
was concerned at the amount of unbudgeted money which had recently been committed to parks.
He indicated he would not be willing to make a financial commitment at this point.
The City Manager reported that the grant application was due in Tallahassee on June 2, 1999, and
Jacksonville would like a commitment from Atlantic Beach to be a co-applicant on the grant, and
indicated that Mayor Delaney would be in attendance at the Commission meeting on May 24 to
answer any questions or concerns the Commission may have.
Commissioner Beaver asked whether the City could commit to spend future moneys and the City
Attorney explained that if the City Commission agreed to this expenditure at this time, the
commitment was actually to appropriate funds in the next year's budget for this purpose.
Commissioner Beaver expressed concern regarding making this commitment when, he said the City
had many other maintenance projects which needed to be done. He asked the City Manager to ask
specifically what would happen if Atlantic Beach did not commit to contribute any funds.
t
- Commissioner Meserve again reiterated that this was not a budgeted item and he felt that a
commitment at this time was actually pre-spending the money before a budget was adopted. He was
also concerned that the property was not in Atlantic Beach and the city would be putting money into
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May 12, 1999
a project it did not own. He felt that the city should better maintain its current property and said he
would support this project so long as no funds were being committed.
The Mayor said she felt the question before the City Commission this evening was whether Atlantic
Beach would be willing to be a co-applicant and provide the maintenance. She felt Jacksonville
needed this information in order to prepaze the grant application, but the money would not be
required until later. The Mayor said she saw this as a negotiation situation with Jacksonville
regarding the level of participation of Atlantic Beach. She felt that development of this property
would have a negative impact on Dutton Island.
Further discussion ensued and it was clarified that Jacksonville would proceed with the grant
application whether or not Atlantic Beach participated. However, they were more likely to receive
the grant if Atlantic Beach agreed to be a co-applicant. Commissioner Beaver also clarified that a
commitment to be a co-applicant did not automatically commit the city to any financial participation.
The City Manager said that Jacksonville would have to be able to show that there would be on-going
n maintenance of the property, and accepting a role as managing the property would probably be
sufficient to participate as a co-applicant. He said that while Jacksonville had requested that Atlantic
Beach contribute funds, they had not indicated that failure to do so would in any way disqualify
Atlantic Beach from being a co-applicant.
Commissioner Mitchelson said that he would be happy for Atlantic Beach to be co-applicant and
agree to provide maintenance in order to maximize the points available to Jacksonville, however, he
felt that if 100% of the property would be owned by Jacksonville, then Jacksonville should pay 100%
of the purchase price.
Commissioner MitcheIson then moved that Atlantic Beach agree to be co-applicant in the
grant; that Atlantic Beach agree to guarantee the management of the property; that Atlantic
Beach be willing to perform 10% development on the property; and with the contingency that
the deed of the property contain a restriction which requires that it be maintained for park use
in perpetuity which goes beyond the 10-year requirement as listed in the grant. The motion
was seconded by Commissioner Borno.
In further discussion, the Mayor reiterated that the deed restriction was very important to her. She
said that as far as development was concerned "minimum is better," and asked the City Manager to
convey this to the Jacksonville representatives. The Mayor said that when Jacksonville was first
approached regarding the possible purchase of this property, no financial participation by Atlantic
Beach was anticipated, and she suggested that participation on the part of Atlantic Beach be at the
lowest possible cost. She said there were already some trails through the property and she would like
to see those trails made use of in the management plan.
On roll-call vote the motion carried unanimously.
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May 12, 1999
2. Any other business:
Commissioner Borno reported that an Atlantic Beach firm had volunteered to provide T-shirts at no
cost for the concert being sponsored by the Teen Council, on condition that the shirts be given to the
volunteers. He suggested the shirts be yellow so they would stand out in a crowd. Commissioner
Borno moved to accept the donation of twenty "Sun" colored T-shirts from a local Atlantic
Beach company, with the agreed-to printing to be put together by the City Manager and
Commissioner Borno. The motion was seconded by Mayor Shaughnessy.
Discussion ensued regarding whether the shirts should say "Security" or "Staff" and the Mayor said
she would prefer the word "Sta$" on the shirts. The motion carried unanimously.
- Commissioner Meserve reported the Mayport sewer project was becoming very expensive
because ofunanticipated problems with as-built plans, and had come to a halt . He reported
phase one of the sewer line was completed and in operation and the city would soon realize
revenues for the service. With respect to the paving of Washington Street he said many truck
loads of sand would have to be removed and replaced with proper fill.
City Attorney Jensen reported that Miles Francis, Executive Director of the Jacksonville
Transportation Authority, (JTA) had requested a legal opinion from the office of the General
Counsel for the City of Jacksonville regarding the right of the JTA to construct an overpass
located within Atlantic Beach when Atlantic Beach had raised objections under its ordinance
code regarding the height of the overpass. Mr. Jensen distributed a copy of the legal opinion
a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit B.
Mayor Shaughnessy inquired whether the JTA was under any obligation to respond to
negative input received during public hearings and the City Attorney advised that if the JTA
was found to have abused their authority they could be stopped, otherwise they could do
what was necessary to plan and build the roads.
Discussion ensued regarding the proposed A-1-A improvements and Commissioner Borno
noted that this project was stopped because of negative input. Commissioner Meserve,
however, pointed out that there had been consensus between the Beaches Cities and the
community regarding the A 1-A project and there had not been consensus in this area against
the flyover. The Navy supports the improvements and also the Fleet Landing residents had
sent a petition to the JTA supporting the improvements.
The Mayor said she would prefer the funds be directed to the Beach Boulevard bridge. She
~` said she had learned that in the event of an evacuation the Corps of Engineers was responsible
for navigation and the bridge would be opened to allow their boats to pass through. She also
felt that the construction of Wonderwood Road would alleviate some of the traffic problems
at the Mayport Road/Atlantic Boulevard intersection.
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The Mayor confirmed that no response had been received from the JTA regarding their
representatives attending a workshop meeting with Atlantic Beach City Commission
regarding the flyover, and requested that the City Manager be directed to telephone the JTA
and ask them if they intended to attend the workshop meeting .
The Mayor solicited the wishes of the City Commission regarding whether they would like
to have a meeting with staff to receive their input regarding the R-A-M report. Following
discussion, it was agreed to advise staffthat the City Commission would like to receive any
input they wished to submit regazding the R-A-M report and a meeting was tentatively
scheduled for Wednesday, May 19, 1999 for this purpose. However, the mayor suggested
leaving it up to staffto determine if they feel a written report would suffice, or if they would
prefer to have a workshop meeting. A joint workshop with R-A-M and the Stormwater
Revietiv Committee would be held at a later date.
There being no further discussion or business to come before the City Commission, the Mayor
~•-~ declared the meeting adjourned at 6.30 p.m.
SUZANNE SHAUGHNESSY
Mayor
ATTEST:
MAUREEN KING
Certified Municipal Clerk