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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08242011cnvoF HOME OF PELICAN ISLAND SEBASTIAN CITY COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR MEETING WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2011 - 6:30 P.M. CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 1225 MAIN STREET, SEBASTIAN, FLORIDA 1. Vice Mayor Wright called the regular meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. 2. The invocation was given by Pastor Norm Holm of the Calvary Chapel Church, Sebastian Campus. 3. Council Member Gillmor led the Pledge of Allegiance. 4. ROLL CALL City Council Present: Vice -Mayor Don Wright Council Member Andrea Coy Council Member Richard H. Gillmor City Council Absent: Mayor Jim Hill (excused) Council Member Eugene Wolff (excused) Staff Present: City Manager, Al Minner City Attorney, Robert Ginsburg City Clerk, Sally Maio Deputy City Clerk, Jeanette Williams Airport Director, Joseph Griffin Administrative Services Director, Debra Krueger Finance Director, Ken Killgore Police Chief, Michelle Morris MIS Systems Analyst, Rob Messersmith 5. AGENDA MODIFICATIONS Modifications and additions require unanimous voted of City Council Members Mr. Gillmor asked if Ms. Jane Schnee could give an update on her recent property purchase. Ms. Coy said there is a planned presentation for Sept. 28th. Being that Ms. Schnee was present there was no objection to having her give a brief presentation. 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. A. Proclamation — Sickle Cell Awareness Month — September 2011 - Accepted by Yvette Coursey, CEO, Sickle Cell Foundation of Palm Beach County and Treasure Coast, Inc. Vice Mayor Wright read and presented the proclamation to Yvette Coursey who invited everyone to an awareness walk on Sept. 17th at Sand Hill Crane Park at Port St. Lucie. Regular City Council Meeting August 24, 2011 Page Two B. Brief Announcements Jane Schnee, who purchased approximately 11 acres to preserve as scrub jay habitat said she had been invited to the 9/28 meeting with Richard Baker, and the Audubon Society to speak more about it. She invited people to come on Saturday and Sunday to help clean the property. Mr. Wright said Patriot Day will be observed on Sept. 11 with a memorial service at Riverview Park at 1:00 p.m. and invited the public to attend. 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 of 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. Pgs 6 -13 A. Approval of Minutes — August 10, 2011 Regular Meeting Motion by Mr. Gillmor and SECOND by Ms. Coy to approve the August 10th minutes passed with a voice vote of 3 -0. 8. COMMITTEE REPORTS & APPOINTMENTS — none. 9. PUBLIC HEARINGS Pgs 14 -17 A. Second Reading and Public Hearing of Ordinance No. 0 -11 -16 — Political Signs Posting Time (City Attorney's Office, 0- 11 -16) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SEBASTIAN, INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA, ENLARGING THE TIME DURING WHICH POLITICAL SIGNS MAY BE POSTED, AMENDING SUB - SECTION 54- 3- 16.5(e)(4)d OF THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE OF THE CITY OF SEBASTIAN, FLORIDA, REPEALING CONFLICTING PROVISIONS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (1st Read 7/27/11, PJ 8/10/11) The City Attorney read the title of Ordinance No. 0- 11 -16. Vice Mayor Wright opened the public hearing at 6:44 p.m. however there was no public input given. MOTION by Mr. Gillmor and SECOND by Ms. Coy to approve Ordinance No. 0- 11 -16. Mr. Wright said he had grave restrictions about making a change but was swayed by legal counsel's excellent interpretation of the ordinance; has concerns about sign clutter, said incumbent candidates have a proven advantage and to restrict the ability of a new candidate to put out signs by potentially violating their freedom of speech causes him an overwhelming amount of concern, and believed they have to move forward with the ordinance. He said he would hope they could still ask people to recognize the tradition of holding off on putting out their signs until 30 days before. The City Attorney said that would be fine. Result of the roll call vote: AYES: All NAYS: None Passed 3 -0 (Hill, Wolff absent) Regular City Council Meeting August 24, 2011 Page Three 10. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Pgs 18 -23 A. Award and Establish for FY 2012: 1) Employee Group Health and Vision Insurance to Blue Cross/ Blue Shield of Florida, 2) Life, Accidental Death and Dismemberment, Long Term Disability Insurances to Florida Combined Life, 3) Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Coverage to MHNet and 4) Establish an HRA Account in the Amount of $123,750 to be Paid by the Respective Fund (Administrative Services Department Transmittal, Evaluations) The City Manager said Mr. Bergstrom was present to give a brief update. Christian Bergstrom, Gehring Group, said nothing really changed since the last time he was here, the original renewal came in at 30% increase but they were able to negotiate it down to a 20% range and the HRA came in at 11% and they negotiated that down to 2% to help offset the deductibles and out of pocket expenses for the employees. He said the dental plan does not renew this year; they are looking for approval to move the vision plan to Humana for a savings and the remaining policies came in with no increases. Damien Gilliams, 1623 US Hwy 1, asked why the Council and staff are not putting this out to bid and how they could justify the policy without a "Plan B" to compare to. He said when it shows there are less employees but the premium does not decrease - -he wasn't getting the picture and there should be a savings. Mr. Wright said he would respond to his questions at the end of his time period. Mr. Gilliams said the original recommendation was not to go out to bid, it was more work for Mr. Bergstrom but it isn't best for the employees, there should be savings. Mr. Wright said the employees had catastrophic claims experience and because of federal guidelines there are some insurance programs no longer available today and asked Mr. Bergstrom about the competitive proposal. Mr. Bergstrom explained the proposal was put out last year when the claims were still at a competitive advantage, but the way it is now the City is virtually uninsurable and there are some long term conditions that will be with the City for a period of time. Mr. Gillmor asked if Florida League of Cities provides health insurance through a trust. Mr. Bergstrom said that was true but based on current conditions the trust would not even provide a proposal to the City. MOTION by Ms. Coy and SECOND by Mr. Gillmor to approve employee group health and vision insurance to BCBS and life accidental death and dismemberment, long term disability (at this point Ms. Coy did not finish reading the recommendation but the intent of the motion was to approve staff recommendation) as set forth in item 10A. Result of the roll call vote: AYES: All NAYS: None Passed 3 -0 (Hill, Wolff absent) Regular City Council Meeting August 24, 2011 Page Four Pg 24 B. Billboard (City Manager Transmittal) Mr. Wright said this is regarding the billboard at exit 195 on 195 southbound. The City Manager said he was asked if the City was interested in renewing the billboard lease. Mr. Gillmor said he asked the City Manager to put this on the agenda and distributed a report from the Chamber (see attached) on the number of visits to GoSebastian.com which is listed on the billboard, said last July Council agreed to keep it up another year, and he cited the visits from the report. The City Manager confirmed for him that the billboard could be rented quarterly or for six months. Mr. Gillmor said because of a billboard he saw eleven years ago, he relocated to Sebastian so he knows billboards work and after speaking with most of the CRA businesses, they thought advertising was a good thing, noting Adam Pruess suggested a new slogan "Sebastian: Paradise Found." He asked Council to continue for at least six months to cover another season. He offered a motion to go another six months. Public Comment Ben Hocker, Sebastian, said when this started we authorized $5000 per billboard for two billboards. He asked why we are sitting in Cocoa, which is trying to divert everyone up there when we could get two for around $10,000. The City Manager said the total expenditure was $40,000 for three billboards in the beginning; discussion was to have a more substantial one outside the community that was a little more expensive. Damien Gilliams, 1623 US Hwy 1, said it was always good to change the billboard to get a second look, increase it dramatically; and keep in mind the SBA does match money to help the businesses in the community. Ms. Coy asked if the Chamber's report demonstrates a way to measure the billboard being noticed. Mr. Gillmor said the only listing for GoSebastian.com is on the billboard so if somebody went to that website they would know about it only if from the billboard. Ms. Coy said the two billboards by our local exit were in bad condition, not updated and she did not and would not vote for them. In response to her, the City Manager said a vinyl change on the other billboard would be about $500.00. Mr. Wright said website advertising is an effective means of utilization —a visit vs. purchase ratio is a minimal percentage. MOTION by Mr. Gillmor and SECOND by Ms. Coy to change the vinyl, and go another six months with the billboard. Result of the roll call vote: AYES: All NAYS: None Passed 3 -0 (Hill, Wolff absent) The City Manager said he would come back to the next Council meeting with new vinyl for them to look at. Regular City Council Meeting August 24, 2011 Page Five 11. PUBLIC INPUT Damien Gilliams, 1623 US Hwy 1, said under the rules, public input is not allowed under brief announcements, yet it was allowed tonight and asked if this was a new rule. Mr. Wright said this was a special announcement for tonight. Mr. Gilliams announced the qualifying period starts August 25th for people to get involved in the community and it was nice to see new faces and hoped Mr. Wright would move onto the School Board to give someone else a chance on Council. Ben Hocker said he inquired about a dumpster against the fence at a certain restaurant, was told it would resolved but it is still there, it used to be enclosed, and asked someone to respond. He also said he took photographs of a dredging company putting poles in the waterway advertising "dock and dine," was told a permit was necessary and the owner had to follow a procedure. He said it is a safety issue for navigation and asked for help. The City Manager said he would speak to the Community Development Director regarding the waterway; and Mulligan's is in the process of doing a site plan and did rebuild the south side retaining wall and will need an easement so the City does hold a little bit of a stick with the dumpster. He said he would report back on their site plan. Mr. Wright said he was not familiar with the signage permit for the waterway but Mr. Hocker's legitimate question should be responded to. The City Manager said he would look into it. 12. NEW BUSINESS Pgs 25 -26 A. Award Workers Compensation and Property, Liability and Casualty Insurance to Florida League of Cities for One Year Term (Administrative Services Department Transmittal, Tabulation of Proposals) The Administrative Services Director said they were seeking to award the insurances to Florida League of Cities which continues to provide a competitive package. In response to Mr. Wright, the Administrative Services Director said this was a competitive bid, and she was satisfied with their services. MOTION by Ms. Coy and SECOND by Mr. Wright to award the contract to Florida League of Cities for a one year term. Damien Gilliams thanked the Administrative Services Director for a job well done. Result of the roll call vote: AYES: All NAYS: None Passed 3 -0 (Hill, Wolff absent) Regular City Council Meeting August 24, 2011 Page Six Pgs 27 -50 B. Resolution No. R -11 -16 — FY 10 -11 - Third Quarter Budget Amendment (Administrative Services Department Transmittal, R- 11 -16, Comparison of Actual to Budget, Capital Proiects Status Report, Schedule of Investments, Accomplishments) A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SEBASTIAN, INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA ADOPTING AN AMENDED BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2010 AND ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2011 AS PROVIDED FOR IN EXHIBIT "A "; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. The City Manager said the amendment was reviewed by the Budget Board and the Finance Director could answer any questions. MOTION by Mr. Gillmor and SECOND by Mr. Wright to approve R- 11 -16. Result of the roll call vote: AYES: All NAYS: None Passed 3 -0 (Hill, Wolff absent) Pgs 51 -124 C. Award Design /Build Contract to AFCO Contractors in the Amount of $52,371.92 for Sebastian Municipal Wind Turbines (Community Development Director Transmittal, Bid, Results, FDOT Approval, Picture, Agreement) The City Manager said part of the hanger 2 project was to install windmills as part of our ongoing conservation green energy incentives and the Community Development Director has found an alternative approved grant expenditure from FDOT that is different from the contract with Ahrens. Mr. Wright asked about payback in terms of the investment and anticipated savings to the City. The Community Development Director explained the low bidder submitted "meter per second" and everyone else submitted in "miles per hour" which is a payback range of 40 years so he had to renegotiate with FDOT which delayed the contract. He said staff recommends going with the second bidder which is more expensive but has a shorter payback time. Ben Hocker, Sebastian, asked if a study had been done by AFCO at the height of the elevation of this windmill noting we have two hangars and asked if wind is cut off by the hangars, what is the requirement of the wind needed and how many lights will be lit, noting after a certain point the City is not allowed to take a FPL credit. Damien Gilliams, 1623 US Hwy 1, said it is nice this is happening and solar panels need to be looked at on the roof of City Hall. He suggested using the County's acres next door for turbines to offset electrical expense at City Hall. Mr. Wright asked about the efficiency of the unit and wind speeds. The Community Development Director said wind turbines and solar panels are an emerging technology; the future turbines will be more efficient. He said he was restricted to the proximity of this project, they looked at the prevailing winds, hoped the hangars will work as a venturi effect and recommended approval. Regular City Council Meeting August 24, 2011 Page Seven Mr. Gillmor pointed out that while playing golf the wind is going all the time and he was concerned if the Golf Course screen could affect the wind. The Community Development Director said yes and no, the prevailing wind is north to northeast so they will get the best bang for the buck. MOTION by Mr. Gillmor and SECOND by Ms. Coy to approve the turbine. Result of the roll call vote: AYES: All NAYS: None Passed 3 -0 D. Prepare for September 28th Indian River Legislative Delegation Meeting Mr. Wright asked Council to bring forward concerns to the next Council meeting to present to the delegation on Sept. 28. 13. CITY ATTORNEY MATTERS — none. 14. CITY MANAGER MATTERS — none. 15. CITY CLERK MATTERS A. Announcement — City Council Candidate Qualifying August 25, 2011 — September 9, 2011 The City Clerk said election qualifying starts August 25th and ends Sept. 9th, the office is open 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. but will be closed on August 5th for a furlough day and Sept. 5th for Labor day. She said handbooks are available in her office and on the City website and invited anybody interested to come in and go over it with her, there will be eight referendum questions on the ballot as well and for more information she could be contacted at smaio(citvofsebastian.orq or 388 -8214. 16. CITY COUNCIL MATTERS A. Vice Mayor Wright Mr. Wright announced the Fisherman Landing Restaurant of the working waterfront plan will be owned and operated by the native McManus family which is a well known, long time fishing family and he looked forward to their seafood products. B. Council Member Coy — none. C. Council Member Gillmor Mr. Gillmor announced again that Jane Schnee had purchased 11 acres of scrub jay habitat and noted her desire is to keep the property as a natural environment; the clean up will be this Saturday and Sunday starting at 7 a.m. for those that would like to give her a hand. Regular City Council Meeting August 24, 2011 Page Eight D. Council Member Wolff - absent E. Mayor Hill — absent 17. Being no further business, Vice Mayor Wright adjourned the regular City Council meeting at 7:42 p.m. Approved at the September 14, 2011 Regular City Council meeting. ATTE Sally A. Maio MMC — City Clerk www.gosebastian.com Visits for all visitors 200 100 0 Dec 1, 2010 - Aug 21, 2011 Comparing to: Site Dec 1 - Dec 31 487 visits Feb 1 - Feb 28 Dec 1, 2010 - Dec 31, 2010 1 1.03 %(5) Jan 1, 2011 - Jan 31, 2011 2.46% (12) Feb 1, 2011 - Feb 28, 2011 ill 2.46% (12) Mar 1, 2011 - Mar 31, 2011 Apr 1, 2011 - Apr 30, 2011 May 1, 2011 - May 31, 2011 Jun 1, 2011 - Jun 30, 2011 Jul 1, 2011 - Jul 31, 2011 Aug 1, 2011 - Aug 21, 2011 Apr 1 - Apr 30 1.84 visits / Day 8.62% (42) ■ 13.35% (65) 12.11% (59) 13.35% (65) Jun 1 - Jun 30 25.46% (124) 21.15% (103) • Visits 200 100 0 I Aug 1 -AL 1 Google Analytics