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Exh 99 i~-zz-qq City Manager Report November 22, 1999 Maintenance responsibility for Town Center landscaping; The agreement for the Town Center Project with the Cities of Atlantic Beach, Jacksonville, and Neptune Beach requires that a maintenance agreement between jurisdictions be established prior to the completion of the construction. A meeting was held on November 10 with representatives from Jacksonville, Neptune Beach, and Atlantic Beach. The tentative agreement of the three entities resulting from that meeting is as follows: • all three entities will equally share the cost of the annual landscape maintenance, including any water charges for irrigation systems. • the City of Atlantic Beach will manage the maintenance contract (because of management of existing contract for other Atlantic Boulevazd landscape maintenance) and will bill the other two entities yearly for their shaze of the cost for the Town Center azea. • maintenance is expected to begin in June, 2000 upon the expiration of the construction contractor's guarantee. • the agreement between the three jurisdictions will include aone-time replacement of dead/dying plant materials which were installed prior to the existing construction contract. • Jacksonville is preparing the proposed agreement for review and approval by all three entities. Emergency Pump Replacement; Emergency replacement of one of the pumps at Sewer Lift Station A was done on October 27 for $8,000. 2.000 Census: The attached letter from the Bureau of Census dated November 1, 1999 addressed to Mayor Shaughnessy has been received by the City. Because of a complaint from the Town of Baldwin, the Census Bureau has determined to show all independent cities in Duval County as separate from the totals from the Jacksonville area. It is likely that the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will then reduce Jacksonville's entitlement share for block grants because of the lower census population. This may place the beach cities in a position of having to compete for Community Development Block Grant funds. Two results will most likely occur; each of the beach cities will have additional administrative expenses in grant application (assuming they apply) or CDBG funds, and the total dollars available to each of the cities through CDBG funding will most likely be reduced over time. The other beaches cities have received similar letters, but no strategy for dealing with the problem has yet been determined. See also letter from Mayor Delaney to Mayor Meserve dated November S, 1999. c ~~~ ~ ~~fi. ~9T UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Bureau of the Census Washington, DC 20233-0001 '~~~ ~ ~, NOV 0 1 ~ggg The Honorable Suzanne Shaughnessy 1VIayor, City of Atlantic Beach 800 Seminole Road Atlantic Beach, FL 32233 Dear Mayor Shaughnessy: The Census Bureau received a letter from The Honorable Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General for the state of Florida, in response to a request for a determination regarding the legal status of Baldwin town in relationship to Jacksonville city. His letter of October 5, 1999, provided the determination "that the Town of Baldwin is an independent municipality and is not dependent upon or part of the municipal government of the consolidated City of Jacksonville." The documentation that Mr. Butterworth provided indicates that this also is the status of Atlantic Beach, Jacksonville Beach, and Neptune Beach cities. A copy of the Attorney General's letter is enclosed. In keeping with this determination, the Gensus Bureau no longer will show Baldwin town, Atlantic Beach, Jacksonville Beach, and Neptune Beach cities as dependent municipalities within the municipal consolidated city of Jacksonville. For data tabulation purposes, the totals for Jacksonville city will no longer include counts for the area within Atlantic Beach, Baldwin, Jacksonville Beach, and Neptune Beach. Each of these places will have independent data within Duval County; the area outside of Baldwin and the Beach cities will constitute the municipal area of Jacksonville city. This determination affects the central city for the Jacksonville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The central city, Jacksonville city, no longer includes the entire area of Duval County. The city of Jacksonville coincides with the portion of Duval County outside of Atlantic Beach, Baldwin, Jacksonville Beach, and Neptune Beach. The effective date of all these changes is the date of Mr. Butterworth's letter, October 5, 1999. The Census Bureau makes its classification for statistical data reporting purposes only based on the information obtained from-the state:of Florida. If The Honorable Suzanne Shaughnessy 2 you do not believe this information is correct, we suggest that you contact the Attorney General's office. The Bureau does not make determinations of the. legal relationship of entities that are under the control of state law. If you have any questions, ,please contact Mr. Joseph Marinucci of my staff; his telephone number is (301) 457-1099. Sincerely, 7 OBERT W. MARX Chief, Geography Division Enclosure ~-~~~ ,?/~z~Q~ `,Uq ~4~\~Rl OFFICE OF THE MAYOR JOHN A. DELANEY MAYOR The Honorable John S. Meserve Mayor City of Atlantic Beach 8CJ Seminole Road Atlantic Beach, Florida 32233 Dear Mayor Meserve: November 8, 1999 ST. JAMES BUILDING 117 WEST DUVAL STREET SUITE 400 JACKSONVILLE, FL 32202 As you may know, there has been considerable discussion at the state and federal level regarding the status of the town of Baldwin and the Beaches communities under the Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG). In 1988, Jacksonville requested classification as an "urban county" for CDBG entitlement purposes. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) determined, however, that because of the unique consolidated government configuration of the City of Jacksonville, it did not qualify as an "urban county". HUD, relying on information obtained from the Bureau of Census, determined that Jacksonville was a single metropolitan city area and that the Beaches and Baldwin were inseparable parts of Jacksonville. HUD included the populations of the Beaches and Baldwin for purposes of calculating Jacksonville's annual CDBG grant entitlement. This resulted in the Beaches and Baldwin no longer being eligible to apply for grants under the State of Florida CDBG program. For several years now, Baldwin has requested that HUD exclude its population from the Jacksonville entitlement area in order that Baldwin may be eligible to participate in the Florida CDBG program. This request has triggered a review by both the Census Bureau and HUD to reconsider the single entitlement area. One potential implication is that HUD will no longer consider the Beaches and Baldwin to be a part of Jacksonville for entitlement purposes. Although there has been no Charter amendment since 1988, which changed the legal relationship between the Beaches and Baldwin and Jacksonville, it nevertheless appears that HUD may implement a change. I would like for Baldwin to be able to pursue state funding; however, I am very concerned that this will result in the Beaches being removed from Jacksonville's entitlement area against their wishes. ~~ Printed on Recycled Paper Page 2 CDBG -Letter Last February, I invited Mayor Godbold to work with me on a mutually beneficial solution so as to achieve Baldwin's goal without penalizing the Beaches. Regrettably, we were unable to reach a mutually beneficial solution. I have, therefore moved forward with my own efforts to develop a solution. Jacksonville first sought an administrative remedy through HUD and the Bureau of the Census, but was unsuccessful in achieving an administrative solution. Jacksonville is now requesting that our Congressional Delegation seek legislation amending the existing CDBG statutes to classify the consolidated government as an "urban county". This classification would allow Baldwin to elect to exclude its population from the entitlement area without affecting the Beaches. It is worth noting that Congress has already enacted six separate legislative amendments to the CDBG statutes to create urban county classifications for other unique areas. With that in mind, I believe this is an attainable solution. I am asking that you review the enclosed proposed amendment to the CDBG statute. Please let me know if you are in support of this legislative solution. Thank you for your consideration of this important matter. Sincerely, ---_f . ~. John A. Delaney JAD:bt Enclosure Cc: James Hanson City Manager ., Proposed Amendment to CDBG Entitlement Statute At the end of 42 U.S.C. § 5302(a)(6)(D)(v} delete the "or" tAt the end of 42 U.S.C. § 5302(a}(6}(D)(vi) add the following: "or (vii)(I) has consolidated its government with one or more municipal governments, such that within the county boundaries there are no unincorporated areas, (II) has a population of at least 650,000 over which the consolidated government has the authority to undertake essential community development and housing assistance activities, (III) for more than 10 years, has been classified as an entitlement area for purposes of allocating and distributing funds under sectio:. 106 of this title, and (IV) as of the date of enactment of this subsection, has over 90 percent of the county's population within the jurisdiction of the consolidated government."