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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10272010City Council Present: Mayor Richard H. Gillmor Vice -Mayor Jim Hill Council Member Andrea Coy Council Member Eugene Wolff Council Member Don Wright None. G YOF SEBASTIAN HOME OF PELICAN ISLAND SEBASTIAN CITY COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR MEETING WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2010 6:30 P.M. CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 1225 MAIN STREET, SEBASTIAN, FLORIDA 1. Mayor Gillmor called the regular meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. 2. Rev. Paul Steinke of the Tabernacle Ministries gave the invocation. 3. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Cub Scout Troop 589. 4. ROLL CALL Staff Present: City Manager, Al Minner City Attorney, Robert Ginsburg Deputy City Clerk, Jeanette Williams Records Program Manager, Donna Cyr Airport Director, Joseph Griffin Growth Management Director, Rebecca Grohall Police Chief, Michelle Morris Deputy Police Chief, Greg Witt MIS Senior Systems Analyst, Barbara Brooke -Reese 5. AGENDA MODIFICATIONS Modifications and additions require unanimous vote of City Council members 6. PROCLAMATIONS, AWARDS, BRIEF ANNOUNCEMENTS Presentations of proclamations, certificates and awards, and brief timely announcements by Council and Staff. No public input or action under this heading. 10.143 A. Himanshu Mehta IRC Solid Waste Sebastian Electronic Recycling Event 5 Himanshu Mehta, P.E., Managing Director of IRC Solid Waste Division, invited the public to bring their recyclables to the event to be held Saturday, November 13 behind City Hall. Regular City Council Meeting October 27, 2010 Page Two Brief Announcements Mayor Gillmor read an e-mail that Council received from a resident describing how a Police Department dispatcher and a Public Works employee repaired the Splash Pad for her child's birthday party on a recent Saturday afternoon. 7 CONSENT AGENDA All items on the consent agenda are considered routine and will be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of consent agenda items unless a member City Council so requests; in which event, the item will be removed and acted upon separately. If a member of the public wishes to provide input on a consent agenda item, he /she should request a Council Member to remove the item for discussion prior to start of the meeting or by raising his/her hand to be recognized. 7 -18 A. Approval of Minutes 10/13/10 Regular City Council Meeting 10.144 B. Approve Road Closures for Christmas Parade on December 3, 2010 (Transmittal) 19 10.145 C. REMOS Aircraft USA Administrative Office Lease Use Agreement (Airport 21 -41 Transmittal, Lease, Media Page) MOTION by Ms. Coy and SECOND by Mr. Hill to approve consent agenda items A to C. Result of roll call: AYES: Hill, Coy, Wright, Gillmor NAYS: Wolff Passed 4 -1. 8. COMMITTEE REPORTS APPOINTMENTS None 9. PUBLIC HEARINGS None 10. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 10.141 A. Community Development Block Grant Review Potential Projects (GMD Transmittal) 43 -63 The City Manager said staff had gathered additional research on other projects they might want to consider and they were looking for feedback to re- advertise a public hearing and move forward with the CDBG application. The City Attorney advised that there was a motion at the last meeting to put the item on the table, therefore a motion was needed to take this item from the table. MOTION by Ms. Coy and SECOND by Mayor Gillmor to take the consideration of possible CDBG projects off the table. Result of roll call: AYES: All NAYS: None Passed 5 -0. Regular City Council Meeting October 27, 2010 Page Three The Growth Management Director said she would display the projects on the overhead and then give Council Members dot stickers to indicate their top three choices on a chart listing the projects. (Pictures of the projects were included in the agenda packet.) Mayor Gillmor asked if Indian River Drive could be piped to add on- street parking in the Cavcorp area. The City Manager said that would be possible but the approach would need to center around what is in the parking study. He suggested piping it in conjunction with the parking plan. Mr. Hill asked if the piping was a budgeted item. The City Manager said if it is, it is an out year item. Mr. Hill asked if the piping could be included in the parking improvements to Cavcorp which is out year 2012. The City Manager said it could be. Mr. Hill said he is concerned that they would be taking items not approved and expanding the budget when a grant is an opportunity to pay for some of the items they've already approved. Mayor Gillmor and Mr. Wright agreed. Ms. Coy asked the Growth Management Director what would be appropriate to meet the housing possibility, noting she did not care for the SHIP Program. The Growth Management Director said the SHIP Program funding was included as a possible consideration and could be spent anywhere in County. She added that the County just purchased five or six houses with American Recovery Act funds to resell them to low to moderate income families. Ms. Coy commended the County; said she did not want to duplicate the County's efforts and wanted to make sure the grant would go to Sebastian folks. She reminded Council it was brought back for consideration because of veteran's solutions so she went to the Veteran's Service Office to find out what they needed and was told that the Veteran's Service could help returning veterans with any need except for maybe widening a home door for a wheelchair. Public Discussion Damien Gilliams said he was glad that Ms. Coy bought up the veterans because the grant is coming from HUD, Council should stay focused and not put in a lift station. He suggested that if the City doesn't have a need the funds should go towards Fellsmere or County vets. Ms. Coy called for a point of order, noting the HUD letter did not require the funds be put towards veterans but that is should be considered. Mayor Gillmor said he asked a loan officer what could be done for returning veterans and was told that there is no down payment required for a VA loan but Council could help with repairing some of the short sale or foreclosed houses. Ms. Coy pointed out they might help a veteran and then the veteran may move so Council is helping to improve private property which might not be a wise investment. Mr. Wright said Council should not create a need and he noted how many communities have refused to participate in the CDBG process because the paperwork and cost is enormous; and it would be appropriate to stay with a capital improvement project. Regular City Council Meeting October 27, 2010 Page Four Mr. Wolff said he was disappointed that staff did not research further the needs of returning wounded soldiers. He said he did try to find out how many wounded soldiers are returning to Indian River County on the internet. He said this is an opportunity to do the right thing for someone who served our country, change someone's life, if someone came to request help, there is no way Council could normally help someone like this. He said putting stickers on a chart is not a professional attempt by any means to rank projects. The City Manager said his transmittal was very clear as to where staff's expertise was and staff didn't have expertise in housing and veterans' affairs but he did know from experience that managing the program would be difficult for staff and he would need additional help from a consultant. He apologized to Mr. Wolff but noted Mr. Wolff did not express his opinion to him during the last two weeks and he is usually approached before meeting with Council inquiries. Mr. Wolff said the typical bureaucratic answer is to get a consultant and the City Manager should have reached out, noting Ms. Coy managed to reach out. The City Manager said Ms. Coy also mentioned the CDBG backlog and paperwork that comes post de facto which is the problem. Mr. Wolff suggested putting the money into the hands of a non profit. The City Manager said a non profit was on the chart and he would do so if directed by Council. Mr. Wolff asked which listed project is a non profit and the City Manager said it was the veterans listing. Mr. Hill said the HUD letter said we should attempt to help veterans and as a veteran, he would support that if it were a viable option at this point. He said all the projects are approvable and staff made it very clear that the process is arduous, and the less arduous process is the capital improvement project which would free up $100,000. He pointed out that staff was directed to look into the grant and they have bought projects that qualify, he would vote for a project that has been budgeted this year. He said to Mr. Wolff by freeing up the funds, if someone came to them to request their doorway be widened, Council has the discretion to help. Mr. Wright said he would not want to delay the lift station project, they should move ahead and if Council's priorities change, they can change the focus. Mr. Hill asked how long it would take to receive the funds. The City Manager said it is a reimbursement program. Mayor Gillmor said his idea for bringing this up and agreeing to table was to have discussion and he has spoken to the City Manager and the lift station is the best place for this grant and he was sure the City wouldn't use $25,000 to administer the grant so he suggested putting that aside for a veterans program. Ms. Coy said there are two veterans organizations in the City, VFW Post 10210, and the American Legion which raise money and help those who need it. She said both organizations are in need of assistance —the Legion needs to put in an addition on their clubhouse and the VFW needs a new roof; and perhaps they should put the two not profits on the bottom so they can maintain facilities that support the veterans. Regular City Council Meeting October 27, 2010 Page Five The City Manager agreed with Mayor Gillmor that he was not sure they can do that because the money is coming from HUD but he would be happy to set that up, set up a public hearing, research the possibility, and they would have 30 days to hear from HUD. The City Manager said if it went to a non profit entity, it has to be a designated expenditure that is tracked. He pointed out that veterans who go to improve their home would have to go through the same procurement process as the City which is where the City would need help from a consultant to work on a one -on -one basis for each case noting the process is difficult and repeats itself becoming "repetitive bureaucracy." Mayor Gillmor said one of those groups would be perfect to identify. MOTION by Mayor Gillmor to allocate $75,000 towards the lift station and $25,000 for the veterans. Mr. Hill said by taking the $25,000 for the organizations, Council is getting back to the same bureaucracy that they have been trying to avoid. The motion died for a lack of second. Mr. Wright said he would prefer to see staff file the application to see if that can be covered in the future rather than muddy the water on this application. Ms. Coy said she didn't disagree and suggested that apartment buildings could be built for homeless veterans next year. MOTION by Mr. Hill and SECOND by Mr. Wright to approve staff's recommendation from the last meeting to fund the lift station. Result of roll call: AYES: Wright, Hill NAYS: Wolff, Gillmor, Coy Motion failed 3 -2. MOTION by Mayor Gillmor and SECOND by Mr. Wolff to put $75,000 towards the lift station, and $25,000 towards some type of housing program acceptable to HUD that would give preference to veterans. Ms. Coy said she voted against the first motion because she would like to see the results of the dot chart and requested that they place the dots before the roll call was taken. Mayor Gillmor called for a recess at 7:23 p.m. so Council could place their dots. He reconvened the meeting at 7:33 p.m. and all members were present and Ms. Coy noted the clear majority on the chart was to use the money for the lift station and she would prefer to go back to the original motion. Mr. Wright agreed. Mayor Gillmor said if he thought the lift station was going to go away, he wouldn't be for it either but the amount that is shown administratively is extra, and he would rather see it spent in a better direction and he called for the question (on the motion by Gillmor/Wolff). Regular City Council Meeting October 27, 2010 Page Six Result of roll call: AYES: Gillmor, Hill, Wolff NAYS: Wright, Coy Motion passed 3 -2. 11. PUBLIC INPUT Damien Gilliams, Sebastian, told Mr. Wolff to hang in there, help is on the way. He said the recycling event is great but he saw on TV that all the electronics get dumped on third world countries. He asked Mayor Gillmor if it was true that at a recent event, he stated the most important thing he has done was bring prayer back to the Council meetings and if that was the case, he recently denied a Church from having a debate. Ms. Coy called for a point of order, stating this was campaigning. Mr. Gilliams asked the Mayor to be consistent; he asked if the Airport lease was advertised three times so everyone could have an opportunity to bid on space; he started to say the Council packet had four or five pages of needed improvements. Ms. Coy asked for a point of order and called for new information. Mr. Gilliams said he had five minutes and Ms. Coy said he could change the rules governing the meeting if he didn't like them. 12. NEW BUSINESS 10.039 A. First Reading Ordinance No. 0 -10 -07 Capital Improvement Element of the 65-114 Comp Plan Public Hearing November 17, 2010 (GMD Transmittal, 0- 10 -07) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SEBASTIAN, FLORIDA, APPROVING AN AMENDMENT TO THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMENDING THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS ELEMENT; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. The City Attorney read Ordinance No. 0 -10 -07 by title and Mr. Wright said he would like to substantially change a section of the element. Mr. Wright distributed a revision of section B of page 78 to Council (see attached) and explained the plan doesn't accurately reflect the facilities that have been provided for the Police Department or the staffing levels that needs to established. He said Council should look at a combination of things needed to evaluate this in the future. He also said at a recent workshop, the Florida League of Cities indicated the average community spends 70% of their ad valorem taxes on police services and we spend 154% on police services so Council has to recognize the cost for Regular City Council Meeting October 27, 2010 Page Seven citizens and he would like to have the City Manger re- evaluate needs rather than adopt the plan with deficiencies that will have to be implemented in the future. He said the City Manager does have backup to support his findings; also, the school populations should be updated. Mr. Hill asked for the time frame needed to adopt the plan. The Growth Management Director said the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) suggests submitting the element once the capital improvement plan is adopted to show the capital improvement plan is feasible. Mr. Hill said this is a substantial change and he would like to talk to individuals and look at more information. Mr. Wright agreed, stating this was the only forum to talk to him. Mr. Hill recommended tabling the plan until the next meeting to do further research. Mr. Wolff asked the City Manager what he told Mr. Wright when he was approached last week. The City Manager said he agreed with Mr. Wright; the City has an extremely proactive Chief and if she is offered extra officers, she will take them. He said it has been discussed whether it should be measured by `citizen to officer ratio' so he started to do some research and found a number of indicators to consider whether the City has adequate police services: officer ratio, officer capita, demographics, and crime index. He said he felt the City's police services are adequate, the cost per capita is a little bit below those of similar communities, the crime index is reasonable but we should keep an eye on the barometer. Mr. Wolff asked about the plan's statement that the percentages of ad valorem taxes going to the police department are double the average. The City Manager said he didn't agree with that statement because the City doesn't have fire services, when fire services are included the millage increases decreasing the police services percentage so the same type of communities should be measured. Ms. Coy said Council should be careful about the radical change they make, suggesting somewhere in between as there are more and more Sebastian addresses in the convicted felon column in the newspaper. The City Manager said the International Association of Police Chiefs agreed the `officer to citizen ratio' is only one tool of many to determine if the City is deficient. MOTION by Ms. Coy and SECOND by Mayor Gillmor to table the first reading of the Capital Improvements Element of the Comprehensive Plan until November 17 2010. Regular City Council Meeting October 27, 2010 Page Eight Mr. Wolff asked where the call to action is. Mr. Wright said in his mind it is a re- evaluation of the staffing over the next year. Mayor Gillmor cited the statement that a substation or public service facility may be warranted to accommodate anticipated development which might not be needed. Mr. Hill agreed and asked about the statement about Fire Station 9 on circle page 77 that should also be updated as well. Mr. Wolff added the school information is also outdated as well. Result of the roll call: AYES: All NAYS: None Passed 5 -0. 13. CITY ATTORNEY MATTERS The City Attorney recommended Council to use a motion to "defer" instead of "table" when postponing items in the future. 14. CITY MANAGER MATTERS The City Manager reported that Barber Street is almost back on schedule and might make the December 28th deadline. He announced a public workshop for the Powerline Road Project on November 10, at 7:00 pm to solicit public input. He said Schulke, Bittle, Stoddard met with the Florida Department of Transportation to receive conditional approval of the stamped asphalt, landscaping and bump outs along U.S.1. He said Outlier Planning will be in town in November 4, 6, and 9 to meet with the business community and solicit input. He reported bids for the splash pad canopy, quarter round, and airport hangar are out; and procurement documents for the beautification of CR512 and AV equipment are on his desk. He said the Parks Recreation Committee are looking at four major issues that they will bring to Council: propose a change in how the City finances the City recreation zones additional signs for Hardee Park, Barber Street Park low lighting installed around Easy Street Park's walkway and would like input they will be looking at future projects as well 15. CITY CLERK MATTERS none. 16. CITY COUNCIL MATTERS Regular City Council Meeting October 27, 2010 Page Nine A. Council Member Wolff Mr. Wolff said he was remiss in not tabling the Airport lease because offices leased at such a low rent should be advertised, extended to all commerce, and everybody given a chance to participate. He said he would like to see public comments on lighting Easy Street Park and he would be willing to go door to door, as it would impact the existing tranquility of the pocket park. B. Council Member Wright Mr. Wright reported that the Chamber of Commerce will be meeting with Outlier Planning to discuss the parking survey on November 11 and he knows the consultant will be counting cars on November 4, 6, 9 so interested individuals should set up meetings with him on November 11 C. Mayor Gillmor 10.146 i. Appoint Council Member to Monitor November County Commission Meetings Mr. Wolff offered to monitor the November meetings. Mayor Gillmor reminded the public that early voting is happening at the old School House through October 30 D. Vice -Mayor Hill Mr. Hill reminded the public that Election Day is Tuesday, November 2 and there was a Chamber candidate forum scheduled for the next day and invited everyone to watch. E. Council Member Coy Ms. Coy said she met with group of active seniors two Fridays ago and they are looking for space to have more organized activities. She said she would like to meet with the City Manager and Kelly DeLong with the Senior Resource Alliance to pool resources and start advertising monthly activities. 17. Being no further business, Mayor Gillmor adjourned the regular meeting at 8:20 p.m. Approved at the November 17 2010 Regular City Council meeting. ATT Sally A. Maio MC City Clerk Submitted by Council Member Wright at the October 27, 2010 meeting. d. POLICE SERVICES The Sebastian Police Department provides law enforcement services to the residents of Sebastian. Currently, there are 38.5 sworn officers, including the Chief of Police. The Sebastian Police Department has a civilian support staff of 18.5 which includes code enforcement activities. In 2004, the existing Sebastian Police Station was expanded from 8,700 square feet to 18,700 square feet to address issues identified in the 1999 Comprehensive Plan. A summary of existing and future police service deficiencies is as follows: 1. Existing Police Deficiencies: Measuring police services in order to identify deficiencies is a relative task. While a common tool used to measure police services is the citizen to officer ratio, the International Association of Chief's of Police recognizes that this tool does not capture all the components that measure whether a police unit is effective. Nevertheless, when comparing Sebastian to communities of similar demographics and population, Sebastian's FY 2011 citizen to officer ratio is 1.72 compared to an average of 2.1 and Sebastian's Total Crime Index for 2009 is 651 compared to an average of 887. With no clear relationship between citizen /officer ratio and crime, it has been determined that Sebastian does not have police deficiencies at this time. 2. Future Police Deficiencies: During the last several years, Sebastian Police Department expenditures have been managed in accordance with the overall reduction in revenue as a result of the national recession. In order to determine future deficiencies, Sebastian will measure police services by using a number of indicators such as total crime index, overall costs, total call outs and response times. 3. Upgrades 8 Maintenance of Police Facilities: The police department expansion was designed to accommodate the needs of the community until 2015. The City has identified additional capital outlay for minor capital improvements through 2014. Other capital purchases for vehicles, laptops and qualifying capital expense have been made with special revenues and budgeted accordingly. This practice has help to defer some of the financial burden of police services from the General Fund. Current public safety expenses, which include police services, dispatch and code enforcement is $4,762,875.