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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01222014 MinutesMy OF SEBASTL, AN HOME OF PELICAN ISLAND SEBASTIAN CITY COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR MEETING WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2014 - 6:30 P.M. CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 1225 MAIN STREET, SEBASTIAN, FLORIDA Mayor McPartlan called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. 2. Invocation was given by Council Member Richard Gillmor. 3. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Vice Mayor Hill. 4. ROLL CALL City Council Present: Mayor Bob McPartlan Vice Mayor Jim Hill Council Member Jerome Adams Council Member Andrea Coy Council Member Richard Gillmor City Staff Present: Interim City Manager, Joe Griffin City Attorney, Robert Ginsburg City Clerk, Sally Maio Administrative Services Director, Debra Krueger Finance Director, Ken Killgore Parks Supervisor, Chris McCarthy Deputy Police Chief, Greg Witt Systems Analyst, Barbara Brooke -Reese 5. AGENDA MODIFICATIONS Modifications and additions require unanimous vote of City Council members Mr. Hill said since he was not able to attend the last meeting when the City Manager recruitment process was discussed, he would like to add it to this agenda for discussion as item 10 B and there was no objection. Regular City Council Meeting January 22, 2014 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. 14.016 A. Proclamation — National Human Trafficking Awareness Month — Accepted by Michelle Akins, Circuit 19 STARS (Stop Trafficking and Rescue Survivors) Committee Mayor McPartlan explained the function of Circuit 19 STARS, of which he is a member and introduced Michelle Akins and ? ?. He read and presented them the proclamation. Ms. Akins thanked the Mayor for his help with recognition and awareness of the STARS program. 14.017 B. St. Baldrick's Event — Be Brave and Shave - Frank Mannino and Missy Elward Ms. Elward updated City Council on the St. Baldrick's Event scheduled for Captain Hiram's on March 1st, to benefit research for childhood cancer, showing pictures from last year's event and reported over $107,000 was raised last year in seven weeks. She noted the Indian River County Commission is shaving again this year, and said the goal is $200,000 and 300 heads. Mayor McPartlan said he would sign up, Mr. Hill and Mr. Adams will let her know, Ms. Coy will consider but only if they as a team can get $2,500 in donations. Ms. Elward said the Sebastian PD has already signed up and noted that 80% of last year's funds came from Sebastian. 14.018 C. Russell Roberts, Vice President, Corporate Development, Florida East Coast Industries —All Aboard Florida Rusty Roberts, FEC Industries, gave a Power Point presentation (see attached) on the planned All Aboard Florida passenger train which will travel between Miami and Orlando, with stops in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. He gave the history of FEC, a successor company of the Flagler Company, purchased in 2007 by a NY firm and is now operating as FEC Industries with FEC Railway as its sister agency. He said from 1890 to 1968 the FEC east coast corridor was running passenger rail, and in 1971 Amtrak took over passenger rail in the US, and the FEC tracks became freight rail and one of the two tracks running up the corridor was removed. He said FEC will need to put the additional track back down on the existing 100 foot wide corridor and and the double tracks will go on the same footprint, with work to begin later this year. He said this is a privately financed operation using company and borrowed funds, they are seeking no government funds and there is no taxpayer risk. He said both Miami and Orlando receive tourists and the train will allow another opportunity to extend their visits in a three hour trip and will remove 3M cars off the road. He said each train will be seven cars and two locomotives, the cost of construction is $1.513 cost, and the only new corridor is from Cocoa to Orlando Airport leasing SR 528 Beach line corridor right -of -way. He displayed the planned stations and amenities in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm, and Orlando Airport which will all connect with other types of intermodal transportation. He said the trains with a length of 900 feet will travel hourly 32 times per day (16 north -16 south) at a speed of 110 mph in this area, noting freight trains are 7800 feet, there will be no vibration and quieter new engines. He said quiet zones are brought up frequently, that FEC is required to sound horns now and cities are allowed to stop the horns if the cities further secure crossings with quad gates to prevent anyone from trying to beat the trains, and quiet zone construction is the responsibility of the city, FEC can do the work and 2 Regular City Council Meeting January 22, 2014 Page Three charge the cities for it, and quiet zones would require certain liabilities on the part of the city. He said FEC plans to do the work on the crossings later this year and that would be the time for the city to consider quiet zones and do that work at the same time. In response to Ms. Coy he guessed that the cost could be as low as $100K or twice that or more, depending on configuration. He said FEC is currently analyzing the crossings and the City PW Director will be invited to go over their engineering reports, he noted all cities have an agreement to pay for a portion of crossing maintenance, and they will be doing safety upgrades at every crossing with 100% of the funding. He highlighted other safety and automated features, can even synchronize traffic lights and in response to Ms. Coy he said the trains will go through in less than a minute. Ms. Coy said it is hard to be really positive, because there is no value to our citizens and it is all inconvenience, and asked when there might be a glimmer that service will be here. Mr. Roberts said they are taking a financial risk and this is the optimal system but if they are successful they may be interested in expanding. Ms. Coy said we have space for a 900 foot platform in Sebastian. In response to Mayor McPartlan, Mr. Roberts said all improvements will be for double tracks and it will all be done before they operate the train. In response to Mr. Gillmor, he said both the passenger and freight trains will run on both tracks on a schedule. 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. A. Approval of Minutes — January 8, 2014 Regular Meeting 14.019 B. Approve Interlocal Agreement with IRC Supervisor of Elections for November 4, 2014 General Election and Authorize Mayor to Execute and City Clerk to Attest (City Clerk Transmittal, Agreement) 14.020 C. Approve Special Event and Road Closures for American Cancer Society Relay for Life at Riverview Park on May 9 and May 10, 2014 (ACS Letter, Map and Park Use Permit Application) 14.021 D. Approve FY 2014 -2015 Budget Calendar (Administrative Services Transmittal, Calendar) Ms. Coy asked to pull item C, to ask Council to consider approving the event with a 50% fee waiver as has been done for other non - profits, with no objection from the Parks Supervisor and Interim City Manager. Mayor McPartlan asked for a motion on the remaining items. MOTION by Mr. Gillmor and SECOND by Ms. Coy to approve items A, B and D. Roll Call: Ayes: McPartlan, Hill, Adams, Coy, Gillmor Nays: None Passed: 5 -0 Regular City Council Meeting January 22, 2014 Page Four MOTION by Ms. Coy and SECOND by Mr. Gillmor to approve item C with everything she said before. Roll Call: Ayes: Hill, Adams, Coy, Gillmor, McPartlan Nays: None Passed: 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. Richard Gillmor gave a report on his attendance at the Florida Institutes of Technology Congressional Briefing yesterday, noted they developed the Indian River Lagoon Research Institute last year and have received funding of $1.1 M funded from St. Johns River Water Management District. He had provided his notes to each member of Council. He said that Dr. Weaver stressed the importance of getting baseline measurements from lagoon. 14.012 A. Planning and Zoning Commission i. Interview, Unless Waived, and Submit Nominations to Fill One Regular Member Position with Term to Expire February 1, 2017 (City Clerk Transmittal, Application, Ad, Member List) The City Clerk noted that Mr. Durr was the only applicant for his terminated position on Planning and Zoning. Mr. Hill nominated Mr. Durr and Ms. Coy seconded the nomination. Since there were no other applicants or nominations, Mr. Durr was appointed. 9. PUBLIC HEARINGS - None 10. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 14.022 A. Update on Status of Capital Protects (Administrative Services Transmittal, Capital Projects Status Report as of 12/31/13, Approved CIP 2014 -2019) The Interim City Manager said upon the departure of the former City Manager and being named Interim, he instituted Management Team meetings to increase communications and camaraderie between Departments, had an all hands staff meeting in Chambers to clarify our expectations of one another, and after the new year embarked with meetings with just the department heads on projects, needs and wants, and while he thought he had a general idea of what was going on, it was an eye opener on what was actually happening, and he asked the Finance Director to make a presentation on capital projects and perhaps we can discuss project prioritization, and some of the problems we may have going forward. Finance Director, Ken Killgore, read from the categorized Capital Project Status Report with status explanations on page 42 of the agenda packet, stating he hoped Council understood what staff has been through in the last couple of years with cut backs, noting not all projects can be done at the same time and have to be prioritized. He said the additional page is last year's approved Capital Improvement Program which lists projects anticipated this coming year. He said with the 2015 FY budget process starting, anticipated projects are subject to funding, he stands ready to assist Council and answer questions to best of his knowledge. Regular City Council Meeting January 22, 2014 Page Five The Interim City Manager said Council is probably wondering why this is coming forward now, and advised Council when they look at the list of projects, if there is something there in each of their prioritization schedules, to let him know; that he hears comments from the dais that we have done more with less and he appreciates that, but projects for other departments such as Community Development are not on that list, and he did not want to be known as the person who did less with less, that we need to be sure we have enough resources and manpower that will support what we are trying to do. He asked them to look at the list again and said we can do a one on a one, and try to complete the projects as best we can. B. City Manager - Added Mr. Hill said he was not able to be at the last meeting when the City Manager recruitment process was acted upon, that this is one of the most important decisions that City Council makes, they hire three Charter Officers, and it is their responsibility to make the right decisions. He said he viewed the last meeting on DVD and found it interesting to hear some of the comments made. He said when they started this process, he felt strongly that it was premature to go forward with hiring Mr. Griffin because we needed to do more diligence to go through the process, and since that time got in touch with Mr. Griffin, got his resume and had an opportunity to talk to him about his management and leadership style. He cited comments made by Council Members about Mr. Griffin on January 8'h, all of which were positive in favor of Mr. Griffin and that he would be an excellent choice, and he agreed with all that was said. He said Mr. Griffin has been with us since 2006, then reviewed his resume, cited discussions he had with staff and several community leaders about Mr. Griffin and it was all good. He noted Mr. Griffin has a BS, MBA, and JD and a tremendous amount of experience. He said Mr. Griffin's resume is more impressive than that of the past two City Managers we hired. He said Mr. Griffin has tremendous life experiences and is trustworthy and all Council Members agree. He said at that first meeting he thought it was important not to appoint right out of the gate, but he got to know him a little better, and he is comfortable with him as are the other Council members, and since Council has said he is already at the top of our list, we probably won't get much else. He said a comment by Council Member Adams was glossed over when he said he wanted a two pronged approach, to look at other people in the City and if no one else is qualified then go out, and Mr. Adams confirmed that was his intent. Mr. Hill said we have done our due diligence and hired the City Attorney and City Clerk in -house without going through the process and if we go through the process it will cost up to $10K for background checks and for travel, to end up hiring Mr. Griffin. He said this is a very transparent process and we have the right person now. MOTION by Mr. Hill and SECOND by Mr. Gillmor to suspend recruiting efforts and to appoint Mr. Joe Griffin to the City Manager position and direct a committee to negotiate a contract with Mr. Griffin and present it at the next Council meeting for Council to approve or disapprove, and that committee to consist of Sally Maio, Bob Ginsburg and Debbie Krueger. Ms. Coy said her only problem was that her comments were taken out of context, that Mr. Griffin is a good guy and doing a great job, and she agrees he is a good candidate but more important is her belief in the process of fairness, and the process gives everyone a fair opportunity to apply. She said this is nothing personal, that he is a great guy, but she can't support it because she believes everyone should have an equal 5 Regular City Council Meeting January 22, 2014 Page Six opportunity in the process equitably, and we need to do the process and have a natural outcome. She said it was not difficult the last time. She said it was a little unfair to add on the agenda item when the public was not notified. Mr. Hill apologized and said it was not his intention to take her comments out of context, and noted at the last meeting only one person spoke under public comment and it was favorable for Mr. Griffin. Mr. Adams said he felt we need to go through the process, that Joe is a great guy, but not just hand the job to someone, make it transparent and avoid the impression of a good old boy club. Mr. Gillmor said everyone knows how he feels, and had we done things differently we wouldn't be in this process. He said in light of all the different projects we just saw on our plate, for whoever they choose the learning curve is very steep, citing his difficult experience with learning the process when he was first elected, said we are asking someone new to bone up on projects, the City is at skeleton crew and we are doing more with a very efficient lean crew and to bring someone in new will be a stretch. He said we will go through the process and we'll be right back to appoint Joe Griffin, and most importantly City employees are in Joe's camp and they like his like his transparency and management style, and he has complete confidence in his capability and his character. Mayor McPartlan said he originally nominated to appoint Mr. Griffin, and then changed his mind at the next meeting to go through the process to be transparent and that's what he will be doing. Mr. Hill withdrew his motion. 11. PUBLIC INPUT Graham Cox, George Street, Sebastian, Audubon Society Board, said they had received funding for garden boxes in schools, and asked to be on a future agenda to bring a video that shows what we have done in the kids' own words, all money has been spent and he is asking governments and agencies to chip in to help them build more in some of the other schools. Mayor McPartlan suggested he get with the Interim City Manager and perhaps he can put him in touch with the City Natural Resources Board. Mr. Cox encouraged the Council to pass a stronger fertilizer ordinance to be consistent with Indian River County. Jim Sunnycalb reported on an event on January 27th at the North Indian River County at 7 pm with Ilka Daniels and Bruce Dangerfield regarding wildlife dos and donts; and cited his own website sunnyswildlife.com which identifies snakes and birds and other wildlife; and reported on Vero Beach's event in Riverside Park for dogs and he and Ilka Daniels thought such an event would be good for Sebastian. Ms. Coy said she would love to see something like that here and suggested Ilka Daniels could get with the Parks Supervisor. G Regular City Council Meeting January 22, 2014 Page Seven 12. NEW BUSINESS 14.023 A. Approve Resolution No. R -14 -01 — Requesting State Funding for Indian River Lagoon Research (ICM Transmittal, R- 14 -01) A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SEBASTIAN, INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA, URGING STATE LEGISLATORS AND GOVERNOR SCOTT TO RECOGNIZE THE EXTREME IMPORTANCE OF THE FRAGILE INDIAN RIVER LAGOON, A DESIGNATED ESTUARY OF NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE, TO THE ENTIRE STATE OF FLORIDA; REQUESTING THAT THE STATE RECOGNIZE THE NEED FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION TO ADDRESS THE HEALTH OF THE INDIAN RIVER LAGOON AND PROVIDE ADEQUATE FUNDING FOR TESTING TO FIND THE SOURCES OF POLLUTION AND CREATE METHODS TO RESTORE THE LAGOON'S HEALTH TO PREVENT ANY FURTHER LOSS OF DYING MARINE LIFE AND DEMISE OF ONE OF FLORIDA'S MOST TREASURED ECOSYSTEMS; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. The City Attorney read Resolution No. R -14 -01 by title. MOTION by Ms. Coy and SECOND by Gillmor to adopt Resolution No. R- 14 -01. Roll Call: Ayes: Adams, Coy, Gillmor, McPartlan, Hill Nays: None Passed: 5 -0 13. CITY ATTORNEY MATTERS The City Attorney said Vero Beach is looking to the State to fund improvements that may be necessary for quiet zone funding, as are other communities and if we are interested in that we may need to get our application in there too in case there is action at the State level. Mayor McPartlan suggested the Interim City Manager put this on his to do list. 14. CITY MANAGER MATTERS The City Manager said although FEC will make the initial changes to the crossings, the City will be responsible for crossing maintenance, and we need to keep in the back of our brains what those costs will be when we budget going forward. Ms. Coy said it was mentioned that the last train leaves at 11 pm and we are half way so at 12:30 am is our last horn, and it might not be worth the effort with the expense. Mr. Hill said it may be worth having an application in. Mr. Griffin said it might be worth it at certain crossings. 15. CITY CLERK MATTERS W I Ti M- 16. CITY COUNCIL MATTERS A. Vice Mayor Hill None. 7 Regular City Council Meeting January 22, 2014 Page Eight B. Council Member Adams Mr. Adams asked if we had met with representatives of FEC and suggested we have a workshop to ask the public if they want quiet zones. The Interim City Manager said in October Mayor McPartlan, Mr. Minner and he met with Mr. Roberts and a West Palm law firm, and the reason he brought Mr. Roberts here tonight was so we do not fall behind if we have to go through this application process for quiet zone before construction, noting this will be dual track system and he is thinking about the expense of maintaining the crossings. He said if it is Council's consensus to do a workshop to get public input, he is open to what they decide. Mayor McPartlan said he believed FEC will give public presentations for questions and answers, and noted the FEC owns the property and allow us to cross their railroad. Ms. Coy said we can combine their presentation with our workshop, and again said we have the space for a station and need to start lobbying now. Mayor McPartlan said they are looking at twenty years ahead before possible expansion. Mr. Hill said ridership would go down if they don't have the three hour travel window. Mr. Adams asked, when they do upgrades to the crossings, if there is anything we need to do, can we schedule it at the same time. The Interim City Manager reiterated his concern about the subsequent crossing maintenance and now with two rails, the budget number for that maintenance will have to be considered. C. Council Member Coy None. D. Council Member Gillmor 14.023 i. Discuss Methods for Local Testing of City Outfalls and Retention Areas Mr. Gillmor said it was brought out yesterday at FIT the need for baseline measurements, and suggested we look at the possibility of getting volunteers. He said he had talked to Dr. McAdams at the Charter JHS, and perhaps we could get high school kids, enlisting Harbor Branch or FIT grad students to help us look at what we have in our city ditches, canals, and ponds. He described test kits available that test 90 different pollutants, volunteers could gather samples and bring them to the City to log. He discussed testing retention and stormwater parks, and possible effect of the aeration fountain of Easy Street Park pond. Ms. Coy said the pond has no outlet and is fed from runoff. Mr. Gillmor said aeration has been shown to treat nitrogen, and that wetlands can remove nitrogen, citing areas we seeded with wetland grasses which are doing great. He said we cannot control what is in the St. Sebastian which comes from areas outside the city limits and County canals which come through citrus. Ms. Coy asked if the tests tell the difference between septic and fertilizer nitrogen and Mr. Gillmor said it would not. Regular City Council Meeting January 22, 2014 Page Nine Mr. Gillmor said his second point is we were first to pass a fertilizer ordinance, he would like to bring it up again, and saw the value in being consistent with IRC and others. Discussion followed on Ms. Coy's concern for using volunteers collecting samples, because it would lose scientific value and Mr. Gillmor said we would need a grad student to assist. Ms. Coy said we can invite them to do the study and Mr. Gillmor said they can't be here every day. Mr. Hill said you can have staff take samples, and said he would be in full favor of the City Manager coming up with a plan for testing, such as after a major rain event, make sure the tests are consistent and send off to Harbor Branch to determine the source of the nitrogen, whether septic or fertilizer. Ms. Coy again said we can have a grad student from FIT do it, they have the $1.1 M, because we need someone who is a professional. Mr. Gillmor said you don't need to be professional to read a meter, they can get the samples and bring it back here to test it, we need a grad student to tell us how and where to take the water from, the location and depth of water and then chart it here and give the results to Harbor Branch or FIT. Mayor McPartlan asked the Interim City Manager to get with Dr. Lapointe at Harbor Branch or Dr. Weaver at FIT. Mayor McPartlan said the Friends of St. Sebastian River were here at the workshop and said maybe they could do it. Ms. Coy said she would call FIT tomorrow. E. Mavor McPartlan Mayor McPartlan reported on the January 9th Pioneer Festival at Fisherman's Landing, it was rainy but they had a great turnout, that he was contacted by a journalist from Germany, and he and the Clerk sent them some information and there is more to come from the event. He noted even Teddy Roosevelt was there. Mayor McPartlan spoke about the rains that flooded Ft. Pierce on Jan 9th, noting we don't see that type of flooding in Sebastian. Ms. Coy said we spent a lot of money on drainage since 2005. 17. Being no further business, Mayor McPartlan adjourned the Regular Meeting at 8:25 p.m. Approved t the Februa 1 014 gular Council Meeting. B . z /l Y Bob McPartlan, Mayor Attest; Cam[ Sally A. Maio, MMC, City Clerk I Rusty Roberts, Vice President – Corporate Development Florida East Coast Industries City of Sebastian Council Wednesday, January 22, 2014 TRANSFORMING FLORIDA 2 COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE PASSENGER RAIL LOGISTICS SOLUTIONS ROW MANAGEMENT 3 Miami West Palm Beach Orlando Fort Lauderdale 4 55M 39M 19M+ POPULATION 50M+ EXPERIENCE CHALLENGING TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS EXPRESS INTERCITY PASSENGER RAIL SUCCESS FACTORS EXISTING TRANSPORTATION CORRIDOR HOUR TRAVEL TIME 3 ADVANCED, CONVENTIONAL TECHNOLOGY 5 DIVERSE MARKET 6 TRAVEL, LEISURE & ENTERTAINMENT •Center city locations •Custom designed coaches & services •Intermodal connectivity 7 A product designed specifically for a targeted market combining 8 MIAMI – 11-ACRE MULTIMODAL HUB 9 FORT LAUDERDALE – REVITALIZING NORTH OF BROWARD BOULEVARD 10 WEST PALM BEACH – CONNECTING TWO MAJOR DOWNTOWN DESTINATIONS 11 ORLANDO – MULTIMODAL HUB 12 ORLANDO – MULTIMODAL HUB OPERATION DETAILS •Hourly northbound and southbound service starting in the early morning and ending in the evening •32 additional trains will be added to the tracks •Trains will travel –Up to 79 mph between Miami and West Palm Beach –Up to 110 mph between West Palm Beach and Cocoa –Up to 125 mph between Cocoa and Orlando •Speed is based on factors such as curvature, signaling, track condition and the number of grade crossings 13 SERVICE DETAILS All Aboard Florida’s passenger trains will •Be faster and lighter than the freight trains that currently operate in the existing rail corridor •Consist of two locomotives and seven passenger cars – train sets will be less than 1,000 feet •Clear intersections in less than a minute •Use clean-diesel fuel and meet the highest emissions standards 14 15 QUIET ZONE COORDINATION •Collecting information needed to begin design phase for AAF system •In early 2014, technical team will engage all municipalities/counties along corridor to share what is existing and what is needed for AAF service •Public authorities with jurisdiction over the roadway to begin engineering process to determine improvements needed for Quiet Zones and submit application to the Federal Railroad Administration •AAF is committed to working with municipalities and stakeholders along corridor to coordinate the implementation of Quiet Zones, especially while the passenger rail system is under construction www.allaboardflorida.com