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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05072007Joint MeetingJOINT CITY OF FELLSMERE & CITY OF SEBASTIAN WORKSHOP MEETING MAY 7, 2007 — 7:00 P.M. MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Mayor Savage called the Joint Workshop Meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. and thanked the City of Sebastian's Council and staff for attending the meeting. ROLL CALL: Present: Fellsmere Mayor Sara Savage introduced herself and Councilwoman Cheryl Hampton, Councilwoman Susan Adams, Councilman Fernando Herrera, City Clerk Debbie Krages, City Manager Jason Nunemaker, City Planner Rochelle Lawandales, Finance Director Larry Napier and Chief of Police Scott Melanson, she added that Councilman Francisco Magana had a conflict and is unable to attend. Sebastian Mayor Andrea Coy introduced herself and Vice Mayor Sal Neglia, Councilman AI Paternoster, Councilwoman Dale Simchick, Councilman Eugene Wolff, City Attorney Rich Stringer, City Clerk Sally Maio, City Manager AI Minner, Rebecca Grohall, Growth Manager and ]oseph Griffith, Airport Director. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG The pledge was recited. INVOCATION The invocation was given by Commissioner Gary Wheeler. PUBLIC COMMENTS Mayor Savage opened the meeting for public comments there being none she turned the meeting over to City Manager Jason Nunemaker. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Discussion relating to: (a) Vision for growth and economic development (b) Pending and future growth areas (c) Providing for infrastructure improvements prior to development within the City to meet current and future needs City Manager Nunemaker provided a power point presentation that reflected where the City of Fellsmere is now, where it started and the efforts undertaken predating his employment with the City. The City has visions for its future and has adopted a CRA and numerous efforts have been made to work with our sister cities and the County. The County is preparing to build a new transfer station off of CR 512 and together we are working on a Joint Planning Agreement. He provided the following information: • Adoption of the CRA and current businesses know the benefits. • 70% of the Community is Hispanic. • Average grade level achieved is 9t" grade. Education is a problem here in the City and the entire Indian River County. • The Average Household income per capita is $14,000 and it takes an average of 28 minutes to travel to work. Our residents much like others must travel out of the City to work and the City is trying to capture work here in our community for sustainability. • Creation of the Old Town District will capture future growth with assistance from our CRA which ist year increment was about $90,000 which of course Sebastian's is much higher. • Creating Eco Tourism for the future development with an FCT Grant application. • The City provides numerous housing opportunities with subsidized and low income housing and well as capturing the higher end housing market. • Council has entrusted Administration to work with businesses on modifications to structures within the community such as Oculina Bank coming into town and renovating a facility within six (6) months. • Adopted a new Land Development Code which provides for deviation from certain codes with the approval of Council and includes redevelopment infill and a village's concept. • The new development in our community has been Sonrise Villas, Whisperings Pines, and Sonrise Villas, II, and the hotel site are currently under construction. • Outlined the history of annexation by year and acreage. The Ansin property (south side of CR 512 and west of I-95) has been receiving a great deal of attention and it was annexed in the City in 1999. The issues on that property (wetlands, uplands, and so forth) take about 50% of the land out of development. • Outlined the tentative extractions out of development, the Banack 40 proposed annexation is on a dirt road that is currently used as a truck route and they will be required to pave and improve the road the property is proposed for Light Industrial. • Property owners are coming to the City of Fellsmere due to their concerns with the Special Act. • Ansin 300 is currently under IRC zoning as 3 units per acre which was submitted to the City as 2 units per acre. Council proposed to change the CLUP in January 2007 setting the maximum of 3 units per acre. • Fellsmere )oint Ventures is getting a lot of attention and have a long time history in Fellsmere. They are proposing a Villages Concept with 6 to 8 million square feet of facilities and job opportunities. Sun Ag has a trailer park and provides migrant housing. There is a need for recreational grounds in the area. • Banack 90 will provide paving from 99th and 1015t Streets as well as improvements to New York Avenue and will upsize utilities if necessary. They will dedicate lands for well fields install telemetry for the water system and provide parks in lieu of payments. There will be improvements to Community Road and Broadway with perhaps a circle connection. • Fellsmere 392 which is on the NE Side of I-95 will tie into the rails to trails with access to parks from the subdivision. The owners provided Indian River County $2 million dollars in county right-of-way needed and will provide for future water storage. There is a preserve and mitigation of 2,500 acres off site. • Ansin 3,480 will net 400 acres REAC Development and the density is tied to the CR512 improvements. Should there be an issue with water and sewer the developer will construct the systems and give it to the City. • Ansin 300 will be developed at 3 units per acre and provide for city water and 2 sewer, dedicate 30 acres to the City for payment or payment for the City to purchase land. Garafalo 78 will provide 16 affordable homes within the subdivision and commercial abutting CR512 and provide for road improvements and installation of traffic signalization at the corner of CR 512 and Broadway and will provide property for recreational purposes. Fellsmere Joint Ventures will develop a Villages Concept with 50% minimum open space, provide for new water and wastewater plants, master drainage and traffic plan for the City with affordable housing improvements in Hall, Carter and James Subdivision and provide job training assistance. All development times are limited with a donation of 1,800 acres for municipal use. There will be contributions made to the downtown development efforts and improvements to CR 512 western corridor. The map indicates the future limits of the City of Fellsmere as denoted in the initiating resolution. The City has adopted a new Land Development Code applied for a FCT Grant and LAAC and the County Commission has approved a 10% match. The Hotel under construction and the rehabilitation of the Old Inn on Broadway and recreation in the area, bass fishing, rowing at C54 and park enhancements will entices visitors. The developers have and are expressing concerns about Charter Government. Mayor Andrea Coy stated that the City has a ambitious plan and expressed concerns with the last map and felt there was not enough future planning. She addressed life right here now and in Sebastian and that we should deal with today, she added that on Saturday it took 30 to 40 minutes on CR512 from I-95 to US#1 and the traffic gets steadily worse. She added that it will be a long time before Fellsmere gets a major company to come into tow and these companies bring in and employ their own folks and questioned how far across I-95 Fellsmere intended to annex. She added that the City of Sebastian has plans too and questioned how far Fellsmere will annex. Vice Mayor Neglia expressed his thanks for the invitation and also expressed concerns about the annexation and commercial development. He asked if Fellsmere will continue to come east and buffer on Sebastian and that could take shopping and jobs away from Sebastian. He expressed concerns about the Ansin property near 510 and that Sebastian should look at that annexation. Councilmember Paternoster expressed his thanks and relayed that his thoughts and concerns were the same as the Mayor and Vice Mayor and questioned the number of affordable housing units in Garafalo. He added that Fellsmere's growth will have an impact on Sebastian on the river, boat ramps and more use will impact on their facilities. City Manager Nunemaker stated that there are 16 affordable housing units which will be approximately 30% lower than the others in cost however the other housing units will pick up that slack. Councilmember Dale Simchick also expressed thanks and felt this was a good meeting and questioned how Fellsmere plans on capturing the trips. City Manager Nunemaker stated that first Oculina Bank has located into the City and the locals can bank here. He added that there will be retail at the hotel development site. We are unique cities Sebastian with the fishing village and river and Fellsmere with Farm 13, the Stick Marsh and C54 Rowing we have the same types of amenities C here and we wish to capture them rather than residents and visitors traveling to Vero or Sebastian. Councilmember Simchick questioned if there would be a definite line for the CR 512 corridor. City Manager Nunemaker stated that the Ansin 400 located at the corner of CR 510 & CR 512 is slated for commercial development and they do not want residential development. Fellsmere is sensitive to Sebastian's needs. He added that there have been discussions with Graves Brothers but it is not Council's intention to go that far, he added that representatives of those property owners have been knocking on Fellsmere's door. Council Member Wolff also thanked the City and added that there are no mentions in the City's plans for hospitals, schools, post office's, fire stations and so forth. He added that no businesses should be permitted on the other side of I-95. He added that there are demographic challenges in Fellsmere with an average 9th grade level of education and who would come into the area and service the farm sector and when the farms disappear we will loose industry. He continued stating who would choose Fellsmere, who will buy the houses when the average market value of housing is $100,000. Mayor Coy questioned the current structure of the building department. City Manager Nunemaker stated that the City has a Community Development Department consisting of one permit clerk, code liaison officer and we outsource, contract Building Inspector Services. He added that growth pays for growth and our core services would be maintained unless outsourcing is a better option. City Manager Minner thanked Council and added that the presentation was interesting. The annexation battle between Fellsmere and the County is coming to a cross road and the area cannot avoid growth issues. He added that the Initiating Resolution adopted by Fellsmere made everyone talk about the next three to five years. He added that transportation, drainage and road issues are concerns and that access of CR 512 and CR 510 is a huge commercial corridor. He added that both the Ansin 300 acres and the Ansin 2,500 acres are both on the east side of I-95 which are Sebastian's exit areas. Fellsmere is aggressively and directly affecting Sebastian traffic issues. Sebastian's concern is that once on the east side of I-95 residents will utilize our facilities, the North Indian River County Park, the River Front Park and preservation is important to Sebastian taking measures to lower density or have no development. Sebastian is preserving the lagoon and river. He added that this has been a great forum and the ISBA is important and felt Sebastian and Fellsmere should reserve areas for themselves. Councilman Herrera thanked Sebastian for coming out and that annexation has been a concern for the entire county and Fellsmere will continue to work with all our neighbors. Councilwoman Adams thanked Sebastian for attending and participating and added that Fellsmere is a member of the county and the desire is to work as a team. She added that we are continually paving our way to achieve a fiscally sound community for our residents. She continued that the undertaking of these projects will provide services, land extractions from the developers to provide for schools, fire and so C! forth and that all improvements are made prior to the issuance of building permits. Fellsmere is protecting the city and its residents and look forward to working together. Councilwoman Hampton thanked Sebastian for attending and allowing us to provide facts on our plans for our future. She added that we will work with Sebastian and address your concerns as well as ours. Mayor Savage thanked Sebastian for coming out. She added that when she is trying to go into Sebastian the traffic is from the Vero Lake Estates and Sebastian residents coming off of I-95 onto CR512. She continued that the traffic issues did not happen overnight. The Ansin 3,480 has been in the City for eight years and nothing has happened on that property. She added that Fellsmere is in a unique position with vacant land all around it, Vero is basically built out and eventually Fellsmere will have what Sebastian has. She continued that things will be done better in Fellsmere than in the County, Fellsmere would never have allowed Publix to build without providing for turning lanes or would the North County Park have been constructed without turning lane. She added that our youth are graduating high school and going to college and IRCC is holding classes in Fellsmere. She interjected that only Habitat for Humanity has been allowed payment in lieu of and the city has a 160 unit apartment housing complex with 80 more under construction and that Fellsmere's goal is to develop commercial/industrial so that our residents don't have to leave their city to obtain jobs. Mayor Savage added that the commercial and industrial will be at I-95 and we are trying to attract eco tourism with the Stick Marsh and Garcia and added that the City needs a hotel for the buffer preserve and the developers are required to provide improvements. Vice Mayor Neglia stated that Sebastian wants to work together. Mayor Coy stated that a plan would need to be devised and that eco tourism is a key in Sebastian also and that working and growing together is a great opportunity to move forward. Councilmember Simchick stated that she is happy Fellsmere is trying to improve the community and improvement is already noticeable. She added that Sebastian feels protective and needs to set boundaries. The managers should work together to set a plan, no control, hammer out differences and get started on the task immediately. Councilwoman Hampton stated that the City of Fellsmere has not approached the land owners they came to the city and they are aggressive due to the county's actions. Councilwoman Adams stated that working together and setting boundaries is a part of the ISBA Agreement. City Manager Minner stated that the Council will have a responding resolution which will be discussed during the meeting of the 9t" then formulation and adoption during the first meeting in June. Fellsmere has made a pledge not to annex anything more other than that highlighted area. Councilwoman Adams stated that there are other improvements to CR512 that just recently went out to bid and that will complete the construction to the east side of I- 95. �� � There was a brief discussion regarding the pending annexations and the Ansin 3,480 acres annexed in 1999 and there progress over the years with the State permitting agencies. AD70URNMENT Mayor Savage adjourned the meeting at 8:44 p.m. These minutes were approved by the City Council of the City of Fellsmere during their Council Meeting held on the day of , 2007. COWSD70507COF_COSMINUTES.DOC �