Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout08122009CRACity Council Present: Mayor Richard H. Gillmor Vice -Mayor Jim Hill Council Member Andrea Coy Council Member Dale Simchick Council Member Eugene Wolff HOME OF PELICAN ISLAND COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY (CRA) (CITY COUNCIL) MINUTES WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2009 5:30 pm CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 1225 MAIN ST, SEBASTIAN, FL 1. Mayor Gillmor called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. 2. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 3. ROLL CALL Staff Present: City Manager, Al Minner City Attorney, Robert Ginsburg City Clerk, Sally Maio Deputy City Clerk, Jeanette Williams Growth Management Director, Rebecca Grohall Police Chief, Michelle Morris Police Captain, Greg Witt MIS Systems Analyst, Rob Messersmith 1 -8 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 3/25/09 Meeting MOTION by Ms. Coy and SECOND by Mr. Wolff to approve the 3/25/09 meeting minutes passed with a voice vote of 5 -0. 5. NEW BUSINESS: 09.126 A. Feather Wars Tom Lowe (City Manager Transmittal) 9 The City Manager explained Feather Wars is a documentary prepared and produced by Tom Lowe about Paul Kroegel's successful attempt to have Pelican Island named as the first wildlife refuge in the United States. He said Mr. Lowe was present to show an excerpt of the film and then discuss the City providing a contribution so the documentary can be formally aired. Mr. Lowe introduced himself as a filmmaker and distributed copies of his other documentary productions. He noted Mayor Beverly Billiris of Tarpon Springs wrote a letter on the positive ecotourism impact The Sponge Divers of Tarpon Springs had to her city and said Sebastian is a comparable place, a destination to come to. CRA Meeting August 12, 2009 Page Two Mr. Lowe explained PBS television airs a documentary for up to four years, it is shot in high definition, wide screen television; and it is an opportunity to tell 90 million Americans how wildlife conservation began in America as tens of millions of birds were decimated for hat and fan plumes exported to Europe from 1875- 1919. Mr. Lowe played five minutes of the film. He explained there are no commercials, donors would be listed before and after the show, this would be fed to the 337 PBS stations via satellite during prime time, the budget was $85,000, PBS requires E 0 Insurance, closed captioning, the production of a number of teaser videos /marketing materials. In response to Ms. Coy, Mr. Lowe said about $44,000 is still needed to cover the production. Ms. Coy said it was a super show. Ms. Simchick said the perseverance of the local community shined. Mr. Lowe described how he was filming River Into the New World with Ruth Stanbridge and saw a white bird, asked her what kind of bird it was and she told him about Pelican Island. Ruth Stanbridge said their observation of the pelicans feeding began his production of the Feather Wars. She said the documentary could be sold by the non profit organizations to raise money for the wildlife festival and other eco- heritage interests. Ms. Simchick asked if the CRA sponsored the production could it be linked on the city's website. Mr. Lowe said PBS' requirements are that it could run on the government channel but not on a national competing terrestrial channel. He said the production would be a real tangible souvenir for the local gift shops. Mr. Wolff asked Mr. Lowe if he was looking for funding to be submitted to a local, independent PBS affiliate. Mr. Lowe said no, he has a good relationship with PBS and explained PBS and PBS Plus would feed it to member stations. Mr. Wolff asked if member stations are obligated to pick up the show and Mr. Lowe said they would hold a teleconference with the program director, show a clip indicating this is a national story. Mr. Wolff asked if PBS has given him any guarantee and Mr. Lowe said no, they will review the rough cut and make recommendations. Mr. Wolff asked what return his previous productions had. Mr. Lowe explained he provides them as a service and he looks for where funding is feasible, for example Cannon Cameras to raise the production funds. Mr. Wolff asked Mr. Lowe how he makes a profit and he said he billed in enough to take care of the writers, directors, cameras, and actors. He also explained how the funders receive recognition before and after the program, each time the program is aired over and over. Mr. Wolff asked what happens if all of the funding isn't received. Mr. Lowe said they have never been in that position. He noted schools can give a lifetime of sponsor recognition. Ms. Simchick pointed out Mr. Lowe produced the film, then came to the City last for help. She asked how much the other donors provided. 2 CRA Meeting August 12, 2009 Page Three Mr. Lowe tried to remember: the Sebastian Inlet Tax District $18,000, Chamber of Commerce, Sebastian Medical Center 3 to $5,000, Kent $2,500, the Mangrove Foundation, and the McKee Foundation. MOTION by Ms. Coy and second by Mayor Gillmor to approve $20,000 to get the documentary out and make it public. Ms. Coy asked the City Attorney if anything prohibits the CRA from funding a production that is going to PBS. The City Attorney said no. Ruth Stanbridge said she is very proud of the City for realizing the importance of this for the environment and hopefully it will bring in folks from the Midwest. Joe Scozzari agreed with Ms. Coy, and said to dump the billboards previously approved and give Mr. Lowe $40,000. Damien Gilliams, 1623 US Hwy 1, said the Board is going to give $20,000 without a proposal or paperwork when there are roads that need repaired. He said he wasn't against the project but it needed to be funded by grant money, festival proceeds and he noted Pelican Island is not even in the CRA district. Barbara Salmon, member of the Natural Resources Board, said what will be reaped from this will be well worth every penny. Mr. Hill said the film is spectacular, he learned much from the film and it shows the beauty of the area. He thanked Ms. Stanbridge for bringing Mr. Lowe to the City. Mayor Gillmor said he can't wait to get it on Channel 25 and it will bring people here to help with redevelopment. Mr. Wolff said he supported a donation but objected to the $20,000 amount given the current economy and knowing that roads and signs need attention in the district. He said we should get something in writing stating we can air it on Channel 25, pointing out Indian River County provided funds for the St. Johns River film and we should see if the County got something in writing. Result of the roll call: AYES: Gillmor, Hill, Coy, Simchick NAYS: Wolff 4 -1 09.127 B. Facade, Signage and Landscape Program Report (City Manager Transmittal) 11 -13 The City Manager said at the request of Council, staff put together a summary and update on the Fagade, Signage, and Landscape (FSL) Grant program. He went over the points of the agenda transmittal and said should Council decide to fund the program for the 2010 cycle, $87,419 will be available to do so. He said staff sought direction and recommended: the review committee be comprised of CRA business owners and citizens at large increase the allocation and increase the application restrictions 3 CRA Meeting August 12, 2009 Page Four Ms. Simchick said one non voting staff member should be on the committee and after the City Manager explained staff thought there should be a staff liaison to the committee she said that would be okay as long as the staff member is in attendance. Mr. Wolff asked what avenue the applicant would have if they get frustrated with the committee. The City Manager said that no matter what happens, the applicant could always appeal that to the CRA Board. Mr. Wolff asked when staff thought about increasing the ratio if they considered the viability of the business citing the past recipient Keg Shack which is no longer open. The City Manager said that would be left to the discretion of the committee and explained applications receive points based on the project. Mr. Wolff asked how do we prevent the CRA from investing a lot of money on improvements that have a limited shelf life. The City Manager said in his own opinion that is a risk we have to take because we are asking businesses to develop to a standard which costs more money and he felt to delineate based on the economy is an unfair burden on the recipient. Mr. Wolff asked if this is a program that allows a new coming business to participate or is it for established businesses that may want to upgrade their sign. The City Manager said it does allow for new business to apply but most of the applications are redevelopment and it would be incumbent for new businesses to check on these types of things which generally is disclosed during the permitting /application process. Mayor Gillmor said there are five recommendations from staff and asked if the other members are happy with the recommendations. Mr. Hill said he had no issue with any of the recommendations and he looked forward to moving again and helping businesses out. Ms. Coy dittoed Mr. Hill's comments. Don Wright, 720 N. Fischer Circle, said the four grant criteria listed on circle page 11 are more like restrictions than criteria, which might be expressed as that; it might not be necessary for applicants to be in the CRA district as the program can help a business stay in business; and the grant could help businesses correct their code violations. Mr. Wright said the committee composition should be property owners, and /or business owners and /or their employees who would be committed to seeing the improvements. He also said the criteria should help the committee decide value of the improvement to be made, and limiting an applicant from reapplying for ten years is a negative restriction but it could be used as criteria for award. Joe Scozzari, Sebastian, agreed with Mr. Wright, noting there are many restrictions in the CRA district. Mayor Gillmor said the match percentage of 80/20 makes it seem like the CRA is carrying the whole improvement. Mr. Hill said the money is there to help beautify the business community which isn't thriving right now and having the 20% commits the business owner. 4 CRA Meeting August 12, 2009 Page Five Ms. Simchick pointed out that no one had the money to apply for the last cycles. She said the recommendations are fine and we should move forward with a fine tuned application, three business /property owner committee membership, and modifying the 10 year reapplication restriction. Ms. Coy asked to polish up the word "commenced." The City Manager said the Board recommendations have been well taken and staff will bring back the grant application form so they can see the criteria. He noted there haven't been a lot of applicants so it was almost a token past applicants would get funded. Mr. Wolff said the committee should be from the CRA, and the 10 year restriction is pretty heavy, and it should be more on merit. Mr. Hill said there should be a time frame, but 10 years is lengthy. Ms. Simchick said maybe restricting same cycle application and suggested preference could be given to first time applicants. Mr. Hill said the committee and Board could watch out for how many times a business applies, and suggested eliminating the restriction B altogether. There was a general consensus of Council to have a three year reapplication restriction. Ms. Simchick suggested a future meeting to review the CRA master plan. 6. Being no further business, Mayor Gillmor adjourned the CRA meeting at 6:47 p.m. Approved at the Sept. 23, 2009 CRA meeting. ATTEST: Sally A. Mai MC City Clerk 5