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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03092011CUUYOF HOME OF PELICAN ISLAND SEBASTIAN CITY COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR MEETING WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2011 6 :30 P.M. CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 1225 MAIN STREET, SEBASTIAN, FLORIDA 1. Mayor Hill called the regular meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. 2. Reverend Paul Steinke, Tabernacle Ministries gave the invocation. 3. Vice Mayor Wright led the Pledge of Allegiance. 4. ROLL CALL City Council Present: Mayor Jim Hill Vice -Mayor Don Wright Council Member Andrea Coy Council Member Richard H. Gillmor Council Member Eugene Wolff Staff Present: City Manager, Al Minner City Attorney, Robert Ginsburg City Clerk, Sally Maio Deputy City Clerk, Jeanette Williams Airport Director, Joseph Griffin Growth Management Director, Rebecca Grohall Police Chief, Michelle Morris Police Captain, Mike Beyer MIS Senior Systems Analyst, Barbara Brooke -Reese 5. AGENDA MODIFICATIONS none. Brief Announcements Mr. Wright announced the Concert in the Park will be held on Friday from 5:30- 8:00 p.m. and the featured group will be Mike and Katie's Acoustics' Pop Tour. Mr. Gillmor extended a big thank you to Golf Course Director, Greg Gardner and Golf Course staff which have been short- handed yet the Golf Course looks as beautiful as it has ever been. He invited the public to visit the course. Regular City Council Meeting March 9, 2011 Page Two 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. 5 A. Proclamation National Boys Girls Club Week March 20 -26, 2011 Accepted by Brittany Beko, Sebastian Branch Director Mayor Hill read the proclamation to Brittany Beko who thanked Council and introduced Youth of the Year, Jake Walton. Jake offered a few words on the importance of the Club to kids. 11.020 B. Certificate of Appreciation to Bill Simmons Planning Zoning Commission Service Mayor Hill read the certificate and thanked Mr. Simmons for his seven years of service. 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 -14 A. Approval of Minutes 2/23/11 Regular Meeting 11.033 B. Approval of Alcoholic Beverage Use at Community Center Falzone 15 -18 3/19/11 6 pm to 10 pm DOB Verified (Transmittal, Application, Receipt) Ms. Coy pulled item A. MOTION by Ms. Coy and SECOND by Mayor Hill to approve item B passed with a voice vote of 5 -0. Item B Ms. Coy said Mr. Hocker asked her to pull the minutes to correct his statement on circle page nine under Public Input, instead of saying he met with the owner it should say he spoke with the City Engineering Department. MOTION by Ms. Coy and SECOND by Mr. Wolff to approve item B passed with a voice vote of 5 -0. 8. COMMITTEE REPORTS APPOINTMENTS City committee reports and Council Member regional committee reports. No public input or action except for City committee member nominations and appointments under this heading. Ms. Coy said she monitored the County Commission meeting where Commissioner Solari requested that a letter be written to Governor Scott to derail our railroad which she thought was disrespectful for not consulting the municipalities. Mayor Hill said the Commissioner had the right to do that under his matters; he is alone on the matter; he would be interested to see what the Commission decided noting Mr. Solari has been opposed from the beginning. Regular City Council Meeting March 9, 2011 Page Three Mayor Hill added he sits on the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council with Commissioner Solari and his major concern is that there is no recording of what the cost will be. 9. PUBLIC HEARINGS None 10. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 11.021 A. Resolution No. R -11 -06 Adopting the Riverfront Parking Study (City Manager 19 -98 Transmittal, R- 11 -06, Study) A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SEBASTIAN, INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA; ADOPTING THE RIVERFRONT PARKING STUDY; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICT; PROVIDING FOR EFFECTIVE DATE. The City Manager said he made modifications to the report and was looking for feedback on actions items: to start redevelopment of Cavcorp, pave and landscape the Presidential streets and regulations for parking along Indian River Drive. Brandon Schaad, Outlier Planning, said the overriding thing is in comparing demand with supply that supply is there —not always in an ideal location, not always easy to get to where you want to. He recommended investing in existing resources, pay attention to accessibility between spaces and end destinations, and better information for users. Mr. Gillmor cited circle page 60, table 4 shows almost a 2,000 space discrepancy between what our code requires and what ITE requires. He asked what ITE means. Mr. Schaad said the ITE is the Institute of Transportation Engineers who publish a book called Parking Generation that includes data for specific land uses. The Growth Manager Director said the code does reference the requirement as it is shown but we do allow the ITE rate to be shown which is revised annually and applicants can use the rate if it is more favorable to them. Ms. Coy noted the study includes Jackson Street but for it to be a viable lot, it needs to be cleaned up, it looks like an industrial zone, we need to look at what the City's agreement with them is, and what is allowed in there. She said if that is Council's wish, she didn't think we would attract others to park there. The City Manager explained the City contracted with Mr. Adams to build the street and we entered into a parking agreement to have private and public parking to be created towards his development —kind of like an early Mulligan's deal. Ms. Coy said at the time of design, we didn't give permission for tractor trailers. The City Manager said the two big questions are: how long does he have to build from that site plan and does he have the right to use that property for a different use. Ms. Coy asked if the outside spaces are to be for his exclusive use. The City Manager said they are his, he provided public access to them but both the public and private spaces count towards his business. Regular City Council Meeting March 9, 2011 Page Four Ms. Coy asked how long his site plan is good for. The Growth Management Director said 18 months from the time construction starts, however, the previous City Attorney opined that since Mr. Adams built the shared amenities (drainage and roadway), it gives him site plan rights until he builds that site. Mr. Wolff said it sounds like another legal opinion is needed and it's not just the tractor trailers, noting there are fork lifts, and bulk bins of ice. He said as long as everyone knows what belongs to whom. Ms. Coy said his site plan was not approved for those activities. Mayor Hill said they had good questions and staff will bring back answers to their questions and asked Council how it affects their overall opinion of the study. The City Manager offered to revisit the developer's agreement and meet with the City Attorney and Mr. Stringer who is the attorney for Mr. Adams. Ms. Coy said there may be things we want to do with the parking lot such as authorizing modes of travel to and from that lot. MOTION by Mr. Gillmor and SECOND by Mr. Wright to approve Resolution R- 11 -06. 7:01 pm The City Attorney read the title of Resolution No. R- 11 -06. Public Input Damien Gilliams said Jackson Street was the sweetheart deal of the century, and Mr. Adams outmaneuvered us. He said when he sits on Council things such as this won't get past him, it's time to pave the Presidential Streets, there is a lot of liability down there, and asked what is the hold up. Ben Hocker said the survey listed Capt. Hiram's spaces as counted, now we are counting Jackson Street's private spaces, and he asked if that has been extracted from the requirements because if we are counting private that means we need less public parking. He noted the problems in the park area where one restaurant was not functioning at that time, so he asked if there has been an update of intense use coming, and extraction of the private spaces. Mayor Hill cited circle page 19, item 3 the consideration of repealing the prohibition of back out parking on Indian River Drive. The City Manager said there are old ordinances that need to be fixed before improvements begin on the presidential streets. He said he has been receiving feedback regarding the backing out of traffic along Indian River Drive so they will need to broach that topic in the future but for tonight, he was looking for marching orders on: Getting with Schulke on design concepts for Cavcorp -Ask Frank Watanabe for specs for the Presidential Streets -Fix the ordinances -Seek Council and P &Z discussion on backout parking. Mr. Wright said backout parking is a safety issue and in order to make a decision, we need to see what the plan looks like. 4 Regular City Council Meeting March 9, 2011 Page Five Mayor Hill said a fair example of back out parking would be on the east side of Indian river Drive south of Mulligan's. Mr. Wolff asked Mr. Schaad if he could reply to the last speaker's question. Mr. Schaad said the data does break out public vs. private spaces and it was done prior to the opening of Mulligan's. In response to Mr. Wolff, Mr. Schaad said the restaurant was expected and a driver behind the Parking in Lieu of Program. Result of roll call AYES: All NAYS: None Passed 5 -0 11. PUBLIC INPUT Joe Scozzari asked if the crossing guards were police officers. The Mayor replied they are not. He said he was driving west on Barber Street and a crossing guard woman told him he was speeding. He said he told her that he was not speeding and she replied that she was a police officer. Mayor suggested that he speak to the Chief of Police as with anyone who might have a problem with the City's police officers. Ben Hocker, Sebastian, said at the last meeting he thought Mr. Wolff said there was ten years to pay on 40 spaces for Mulligan's and he thought it was five years for 20 spaces. The City Manager invited him to review the lease tomorrow in his office. Mr. Hocker said also at the last meeting the City Manager said all docks are grandfathered in with ADA and since we put in an extension to a dock and completely rebuilt Main Street was it still considered grandfathered. Mayor Hill said the City Manager was directed to find ways to make the docks accessible by the handicapped. Damien Gilliams praised the Police Department for their investigation of the robbery at his home. Mr. Gilliams gave photocopied pictures of Hurricane Harbor's surplus property to the Clerk and cited the City's surplus property code noting there is a requirement to advertise so everyone has a chance to bid on the property. He said if the City was going to allow a select crew to bid, the code should be changed noting the property was worth $10- 15,000 and we got $1,000. He said it was the same thing happened when Kayaks Etc was the sole bid on the Hurricane Harbor lease. Ms. Coy called for a point of order. Mayor Hill allowed him to continue. Mr. Gilliams asked to get started on the budget. 5 Regular City Council Meeting March 9, 2011 Page Six Ms. Coy said per Kayaks Etc. owners, they are satisfied with what happened to them, they do not feel shafted by the City and it was not appropriate for Mr. Gilliams to use their name. Mr. Gillmor pointed out that the City did not own the property at time of the bid, rather we were looking for what kind of interest we would receive in the property and theirs was the only proposal submitted. 12. NEW BUSINESS none. 13. CITY ATTORNEY MATTERS 14. CITY MANAGER MATTERS The City Manager thanked the Boy Scouts for a successful Jamboree at the Municipal Airport with aviation activities. He noted there are a number of RFP's out for response and would be coming to Council for approval at the next few meetings. Handicapped issues at the boat ramp The City Manager said we did not improve Main Street dock or ramp when Main Street was improved. The finger pier at the Yacht Club was repaired because of 2004 hurricanes, so we were allowed to rebuild it. He said it does look like we can remove the southern pier at the Yacht Club altogether and put in a floating dock or put in a cantilevered edge but that might affect an increase in shadowing the sea grass. He said he is still working with DEP. Surplus Property Hurricane Harbor He said they met the litmus test for the sale of public property except for advertisement but the City Attorney advised that he acted in the spirit of the code, he solicited a number of requests to take out the material, collect and sell the surplus material, remove the steel, defunct stoves and refrigerators which did not have any value, noting the highest bidder was $1,000. He said the state was the broker on the property and actually looked into the furniture, fixture, and equipment report (FFE) done by the two appraisal companies. He said Diversified Property Specialists, Inc. stated the tables, chairs, restaurant equipment was not included in the evaluation indicating there was no value to the FFE. The second appraisal by Tuttle Armfield- Wagner Appraisal Research, Inc. said the property has set vacant for over two years, there are no on -going operations and the tables, chairs and fixtures have reached their economic life and they took out the FFE to be comparable. The City Manager said if he had to do over, he would have advertised but they would have lost money with the advertising cost and the community did not lose anything of value. 6 Regular City Council Meeting March 9, 2011 Page Seven Ms. Coy pointed out that the handmade bar was kept and will be gorgeous when completely refinished. Mr. Wolff said going forward one has to be cognizant and sensitive to such situations and commended the City Manager that he owned up to it. Mr. Wright said he thought the equipment was disposed of properly and he saw it as disposal of trash and not assets, noting it would have cost $2,000 to advertise. 15. CITY CLERK MATTERS none. 16. CITY COUNCIL MATTERS A. Council Member Coy none. B. Council Member Gillmor Mr. Gillmor said he has received comments about some of the signs along the road which are flags, cardboard, and signs leaning against cars; and said it might be time to look at changing the sign ordinance or enforce it. He asked to put this on a future agenda. Ms. Coy agreed as she is receiving the same complaints. C. Council Member Wolff Mr. Wolff said they had a constructive meeting with the School Board and asked if anything has developed since the meeting. The City Manager said nothing has. Mayor Hill asked if he should draft a letter inviting the School Board to hold meetings in the Chambers so residents might be able to attend. Mr. Wolff suggested mentioning there could be recognition of north county teachers and students to increase attendance. D. Mayor Hill Mayor Hill said he makes it a policy not to respond to malicious statements, however it was appropriate to have the City Manager explain what happened to the surplus property at Hurricane Harbor. He said the Osceola Magnet School has selected their Mighty Moo Math Competition Team consisting of the top eight 4 Graders and Ms. Kendra Hill is one of the eight and will make Sebastian very proud. E. Vice Mayor Wright Mr. Wright said at the March 15 County Commission meeting there will be a public hearing to discuss impact fees and if anyone is affected by this topic they should show up and voice their concerns to the Commissioners. 7 Regular City Council Meeting March 9, 2011 Page Eight ATTE He said he reviewed the CD provided by Mr. Hocker at the last meeting regarding the riverfront parking and noted the City is working on some of Mr. Hocker's concerns. Mr. Wright asked if there should be a wall or fence around the dumpster in the corner of Mulligan's parking lot and where we were on fixing Laconia Street. The City Manager said the dumpster is Mulligan's recycling dumpster and Mr. Hart has promised to fence it in. Laconia The City Manager said they have double checked the problem areas and APAC underestimated the repair cost and it may more likely be $100,000- 125,000; APAC is showing signs they are going to own up to the work errors; and he hoped to have the project wrapped up by end of March, and at the very latest end of April before rainy season begins. 16. Being no further business, Mayor Hill adjourned the regular meeting at 7:53 p.m. Approved at the March 23, 2011 Regular City Council meeting. Sally A. Mat MMC City Clerk 8