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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12022009SpecialCity Council Present: Mayor Richard H. Gillmor Vice -Mayor Jim Hill Council Member Andrea Coy Council Member Eugene Wolff Council Member Don Wright CWY OF HOME OF PELICAN ISLAND SEBASTIAN CITY COUNCIL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP MINUTES WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2009 6:00 P.M. CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 1225 MAIN STREET, SEBASTIAN, FLORIDA 1. Mayor Gillmor called the Workshop to order at 6:00 p.m. 2. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 3. ROLL CALL Staff Present: City Manager, Al Minner City Attorney, Robert Ginsburg City Clerk, Sally Maio Airport Director, Joseph Griffin Growth Management Director, Rebecca Grohall Police Chief, Michelle Morris MIS Senior Systems Analyst, Barbara Brooke -Reese 4. PRESENTATION INDIAN RIVER COUNTY COMMISSION CHAIRMAN, PETER O'BRYAN Commission Chairman O'Bryan gave a brief presentation, congratulated the City of Sebastian on passage of the tax abatement question, reviewed the County's incentives packet, citing page 15 of the agenda packet, which is a tool to encourage relocation and expansion of businesses in Indian River County and incorporated softer language into its regulations. He said he had provided a copy of the County's tax abatement draft ordinance, noting one of the important components to be determined is length of time for the abatement and the levels of the abatement program. He said Mayor Gillmor expressed concern for State Statute focus on manufacturing jobs, and used as a positive example a software technology company that sells to areas outside of the State of Florida. He encouraged them to move forward and offered his assistance. Mr. Wright said the first step is the ordinance and secondary to that is the matrix. Chairman O'Bryan recommended working on a workable matrix. He said the County is putting this on the ballot for November 10, 2010 and Vero Beach and Fellsmere are considering it as well. City Council Economic Development Workshop December 2, 2009 Page Two In response to Mayor Gillmor Chairman O'Bryan said the County draft matrix is a three level abatement program, the first level is five years, and the highest is ten and the middle is a hybrid of the two. He said the County's ordinance was modeled quite a bit from St. Lucie County's language. In response to a question from Mr. Wright, the City Attorney said the Statutes don't currently contemplate any additional ten year extensions beyond the first two ten year programs at this time, but perhaps the legislature will be looking at this. Mayor Gillmor said he had obtained a copy of the April 4, 2007 City Council Economic Development Workshop DVD at which Bill Fruth made a presentation to Council, and suggested we review at least ten minutes of that workshop in a power point presentation at this time. The DVD was reviewed. 1 -12 5. REVIEW SEBASTIAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PLAN (City Manager Transmittal, City of Sebastian Economic Development Plan) Mr. Wright noted a change in Policy 2.1 which should read 75 The City Manager said 75% was correct and noted the policy in the package may not be the final version. The City Manager said staff could bring back a resolution that markets Policy 3.1 and which can get the word out. Mr. Wright cited Policy 3.1 and asked why we have 60 days in here, whereby other cities have adopted two week or thirty day turn around. He said Bill Fruth had recommended two weeks. The City Manager said his recollection was to be quick but be reasonable taking into consideration our special districts and regulation requirements. He said two weeks would not be wise, but we can be silent on that issue and use words like "as quick as possible and if you want to revisit we can do that. Mr. Wolff noted that it says "within" 60 days not that it will take 60 days. Mr. Hill agreed 60 days may be too long and that is how it will be read by someone coming in. Mr. Wright said you can express if everything is in there you might have it within two weeks. Ms. Coy agreed but not to go all the way down to two weeks. Mr. Wolff said we don't want to misrepresent ourselves. Chairman O'Bryan suggested fourteen days upon complete application submission. The City Manager said if it is administrative determination that can be quick turn around and suggested in the first sentence striking "expedited" and replacing with "fast track" and end after the word "issuance" and we can spell this out in a resolution. Ms. Coy asked if we want to remove the word "formal Mr. Hill said we also need to have a staff person to assist. The City Manager said we are targeting using Airport Director Joe Griffin due to his experience and that he is a good talker with the type of personality you want, and split his office hours where he will be in City Hall between GMD and Building part of the time. Mr. Hill suggested including software design in targeted industries in Policy 1. Mr. Wright suggested including the County's list of targeted industries and Mr. Hill suggested just using the County list. The City Manager said staff will cut and paste the County list into ours. Mayor Gillmor asked if it was necessary to have retail on our list. Mr. Wright said he has heard from many people that retail could be better in Sebastian and perhaps it should remain as a secondary target. 2 City Council Economic Development Workshop December 2, 2009 Page Three Ms. Coy asked if everyone agreed to add "completed application" and "assistance can be found from the director". The City Manager suggested adding to the beginning of the sentence "Upon completion of a completed application" and then adding language about being assisted by the Economic Development individual at 1225 Main Street. Mr. Wright cited Policy 3.3 and said only the County has impact fees, and the only impact fee we have is Parks and Recreation impact fee. Mr. Hill said he thought our impact fee only applies to residential. Mr. Wolff asked why the category "surfing /fishing equipment" is different than manufacturing and Mr. Wright said surfing /fishing was considered retail by the committee. Mr. Wolff said if it is retail it is retail and it needn't be listed separately. It was noted that automotive could be retail or repair. Further discussion took place on whether Policy 3.3 was appropriate but there was no consensus to remove it. Mr. Hill said the changes made tonight will have to come back to Council, and the City Manager said changes to the Economic Development Plan will come back to Council on December 16 Mr. Wright talked about the need for Economic Development marketing tools, and this should not be forgotten. Mr. Hill said Council should be given recommendations. Mr. Wolff suggested use of the internet for downloading available information. Mr. Wright said we need to improve our websites for Economic Development. Mr. Hill agreed. The City Manager said we have volunteer help working on the City's websites, and we can agendize in January for review of those efforts. Mayor Gillmor said the tale of two counties cited by Mr. Fruth is interesting, and recommended we need to track high tech and web -based businesses, noting St. Lucie has gone ahead of others, and we have an opportunity to do that. He said Mr. Fruth also noted we have an aging population which is bringing pensions which will help fill our bucket and we should look to attract folks to the area. Mr. Wright said the overall promotion of the community is important and the Chamber does a very good job of that. Mr. Wolff said it is two paradigms, having ease of using the website and what does the LDR say, is different than saying we want a website that attracts people to Sebastian. He said the key will be going after content and if we have that someone can get all the information they need. Ms. Coy said we can set the trails up on one site that takes you to all the connections you need. Mr. Hill said we have two sites, the Chamber and the City sites. Mr. Wolff suggested building pages that are already there but make them content rich. Mayor Gillmor said the Economic Development page was born on 2004 and it needs to be updated. Mr. Wright said you need a sale and marketing site and Mr. Wolff asked him to explain that. Mr. Wright said we have to have a method of getting people to the Sebastian page and then we can work on content. The City Manager said we have some capable staff, and we have tackled some of these things, we have the City site, and in addition we have Sebastian business.org and that is the site we are working on. He said we did an updated Sebastian airport site this year, and will try to get back to Council in January with a review of the updates. He said he was not very computer literate, said staff has modified some of our search engines so now you don't have to be as specific as you have been. He noted Ed Herlihy has been one of the 3 City Council Economic Development Workshop December 2, 2009 Page Four volunteers who has assisted, but there is money involved in some of those searches, and if we want some of this to change we need to look at some of our financial blocks, not rely so much on staff, and maybe go to some outside people. Mr. Hill said we need to have a site that is friendly but you can't force someone to go to the site, Google is not going to do it, that a comprehensive marketing plan is what we need, and maybe that means working with the Chamber. Mr. Wright said the content of the Economic Development website has to be first class. Mayor Gillmor said updating the website is part of a marketing plan and money has to be spent to do that. Mr. Wolff said web creation and design will absorb whatever you throw at it, so you say obviously we don't have the resources we need, a volunteer has taken the lead in this, perhaps we need to think about more volunteers or a committee of volunteers. Ms. Coy said the school system is teaching web design and perhaps you can work with them. Mr. Wolff suggested asking teachers to tap some of their talented students. Beth Mitchell, Sebastian Chamber of Commerce, said the committee recommended that the County list be adopted, and then we came up with a favorites list and hoped some of these categories would not be taken out. She said the primary list would be eligible for incentives, and the others we recognize are coming but would probably not be eligible for incentives. Chairman O'Bryan cited Policy 4.1 on page 10 said it is critical to put a due date in there to achieve the policy. Ms. Coy said a marketing plan will require a professional and the City Manager said in thirty days he can come back with a number. Ms. Coy suggested putting an asterisk so we don't forget. The City Manager said he can bring back numbers to the December 16 meeting. David DeVirgilio said he was concerned about taking the time frame out of the site plan review, in the event we get busy again and can't meet the time frame, we get back logged. He suggested a 90 day maximum, and we not be vague. He asked if it was 60 business days or calendar days. Ms. Coy said a lot of back log was in the residential area, and this is about commercial, and that if we have a complete application packet we can expedite it. Mr. Hill said he thought 60 days was too long and staff has its direction. The City Manager said we have two different divisions, the construction side and the site plan review side. He said on the construction permit side we are doing better, but the site plan side is different, so as we venture down this discussion of fast tracking we need to focus on the Growth Management side. He said we want to protect Sebastian because it is special and some of our land development codes make it that way, and we need to support the staff who keep it that way. He said if we put hard numbers in there we lose our uniqueness, citing requiring monument signs as an example. The City Attorney explained what he has heard from staff about concerns individuals express with the procedures required for submittals, that staff goes over deficiencies with the applicant, and a month later the party comes in with the same thing, and they say I don't need it even though law requires it, and she brings them to me and wants to move forward but applications are incomplete. 4 City Council Economic Development Workshop December 2, 2009 Page Five The City Manager said the Economic Development person will not have aye and nay authority but is there to assist people through the process. Mr. Wolff said 90% of people who will qualify for incentives will be professional people and will know how to submit. Mayor Gillmor called recess at 7:50 p.m. and reconvened the workshop at 8:05 p.m. All members were present. Beth Mitchell said it is disturbing to hear about an adversarial role with businesses, we are talking about creating a partnership and the mindset needs to change a little. Dami en Gilliams, 1623 US 1, said he was listening at home, said he had been in the City over 23 years, and it seems like it takes forever to get things done, keeping jobs that are here is a first priority, and asked what Council is planning to do to create jobs in businesses that are already here. Mayor Gillmor said existing businesses will be part of the tax abatement program. Mr. Gilliams said small business owners could have been invited to tell what they are up against, and incentives should be geared toward existing businesses. He said Council can create a Sebastian dollar to see that dollars are re- circulated in the City, noting it is working in another city and people spend locally. He said we need to get things in order before we bring people here, suggested moving the Chamber to the City Hall complex for the betterment of the City to work hand in hand with the City, and said we are losing more jobs by the day. Joe Scozzari, Sebastian, said he was amazed that no one on Council has any computer skills, the City should not compete with businesses that want to come in, said the City website was all about Economic Development but when he got here it was not like that, that Council was saying we do not want people coming here. He said throwing up signs on the highway is not going to do it, and we need to get on the phone and call the businesses. 13 -20 A. Indian River County Economic Development Incentives (IRC Incentives) 21 -67 6. REVIEW DRAFT TAX ABATEMENT IMPLEMENTATION ORDINANCE (Pertinent Florida Statutes Concerning Tax Abatement, Draft City of Sebastian Tax Abatement Ordinance, Model Tax Abatement Regulations from Melbourne [from which our draft is derived], Palm Coast, Miami /Dade, St. Lucie County, Model Tax Abatement Granting Ordinance, Melbourne ED Tax Abatement Program Steps) Mayor Gillmor asked if there was any reason staff picked five years for tax abatement, and the City Manager said we used a Melbourne ordinance as a model. Mayor Gillmor cited the St. Lucie ordinance and suggested we go with a ten year program. Mr. Wright said that correction to ten years is critical, and we need an application form, we need to adopt guidelines, and then we can move ahead with this. Ms. Coy said we need to look to the County and the Economic Development Council on this, to be very cooperative with the agencies and link it all together. Mr. Wright said if 5 City Council Economic Development Workshop December 2, 2009 Page Six we do something and then it needs to be corrected, it can be corrected at a later time. Mr. Wright said he has been looking mostly at St. Lucie as a model. Ms. Coy noted Indian River County language is based on St. Lucie. Mr. Wright said we need to get this done, and then discuss where we go with an application and other guidelines. The City Attorney said this ordinance is adapted from the Melbourne ordinance, it should be streamlined, the first change would be to make it a ten year abatement, so that Sebastian should have the full benefit of the State law but not put restrictions on the City. Mayor Gilimor asked if he had looked at Palm Coast, and noted it is a page and a half, and asked if he could get it streamlined for us. The City Attorney said he is glad they have the Melbourne model to review, because it has everything though it does not need all of it, and the ordinance should have very few impediments and issues that would slow someone down. He said definitions are all in Florida law, and instead of putting them in the ordinance we can reference the law and say "as may be amended from time to time He said similarly there are time frames in the model ordinance that are not in State law so why put them in, that we can remove all of subsection 5 on page 36, and paragraph i. on page 37 should be removed so that Council can look at each application on its merit. He said he would like the opportunity to redraft the Ordinance so it complies with State law, and leave some of the guidelines to the application process rather than in an ordinance. He said he could have it ready for first reading on December 16 Mr. Wright cautioned that when we adopt this, we want to include guidelines that we can show to people that shows we want to administer this in a responsible fashion. Chairman O'Bryan said when your criteria is set out in the ordinance you are pre- screening the applicant, and when you have what Palm Coast has you haven't pre- screened them, and then if you have to tell them "no" you get the reputation of not being business friendly. Mr. Hill said the criteria should go along with this ordinance, though not necessarily in it. Ms. Coy said as long as we are clear in the ordinance that it is tied to the matrix and application she is fine with it. Mr. Wright suggested we not modify this Melbourne ordinance so severely that we have to create another document, maybe take this model and cut it down a little bit, but not so much that we have to create another eligibility document, but take out some of the things that are onerous and not required by State law. Mr. Wolff said he agreed with Chairman O'Bryan, because maybe we are only going to have two or three people who come in during the next twelve months. Mr. Hill said this document does not say how many employees you have to hire, how much, so 1 think the City Attorney is spot on because this says nothing. Mayor Gilimor agreed, and said he would be ecstatic if we saw two applicants, we are going to create some guideline people can be referred to. Mr. Wright asked haven't we already set out target industries. 6 69 -101 7. CONSIDERATION OF ADDITIONAL ECONOMIC INCENTIVES (Recent IRC Incentive Actions, IRC Memo and Proposed Amendments, Proposed IRC Resolution, IRC Memo Fast Tracking Target Industries, IRC Memo and Proposed Amendments) A. Land Development Code Exemptions B. Establish Economic Development Office C. Fast Track Permitting D. Consideration of Temporary Suspension of Other Regulations Approved at t D Ric ATTES Sadly A. City Council Economic Development Workshop December 2, 2009 Page Seven Joe Scozzari, said he did not think we will get even one business here, this is a bedroom community, there is nowhere to put businesses. David DeVirgilio asked if all of this will be on the website and Mayor Gillmor said it would. Mayor Gillmor said he liked the streamlining idea, Ms. Coy suggested making it easy to read. The City Attorney said Council will consider this at first reading. Chairman O'Bryan briefly described the incentives the County has adopted to ease land development regulations which are set out in the agenda packet. Mr. Hill said we should do the same, noting these are not safety issue items. Ms. Coy said in looking at the wording, she was at first concerned, but noted Sebastian is special as Mr. Minner said, but those things that make it special are not affected by this. Mr. Wright said we need to modify and adapt it to Sebastian. Mr. Wolff asked if it applied only to commercial and the City Manager said it did. Mayor Gillmor said if we had a company coming in and reviewing what had to be done, and they suggested an alternative, could the Board of Adjustment approve that. The City Manager said the City goes beyond what is required for itself, using the road at the Airport at the road was built with FAA money by staff working creatively for you as an example. He said if we break it down to reality, it will filter down to smaller commercial which might help. Mayor Gillmor said we need to look at our land regulations, agreed Sebastian is special and cited its connectivity. Mr. Hill said the City's Land Development Code regulations have made us a great community and we should be very cautious about making any drastic changes. 8. Being no further business, Mayor Gillmor adjourned the Workshop at 9:05 p.m. mor, Mayor City Clerk Regular City Council Meeting. 7