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101011 ws agn & min2011 -685 CITY COMMISSION MINUTES OCTOBER 10 2011 WORK SESSION CITY OF SANFORD CITY COMMISSION WORK SESSION MONDAY, October 10, 2011 4:00 PM Railroad Depot Room 2nd Floor Sanford City Hall 300 North Park Avenue Sanford, Florida NNN NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, persons with disabilities needing assistance to participate in any of these proceedings should contact the City Clerk at 407.688.5010 at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting. Advice to the public: If a person decides to appeal a decision made with respect to any matter considered at the above meeting or hearing, he or she may need a verbatim record of the proceedings, including the testimony and evidence, which record is not provided by the City of Sanford. (FS 286.0105) NNNN NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN AGENDA 1. Marina Isle Planned Development Approval Extension — discussion. (Regular Meeting Item 7.A)[Commission Memo 11 -186] 2. Cemetery Fee — discussion. 3. Christmas holiday schedule. 4. Fee waiver requests — discussion. 5. Renaming 13 Street and Lake Avenue — discussion. 6. Agenda Items — additional information and /or questions. 7. END THE MEETING. 2011 -686 CITY COMMISSION MINUTES OCTOBER 10, 2011 WORK SESSION The City Commission of the City of Sanford, Florida, met in Work Session on Monday, October 10, 2011, at 4 PM, in the Railroad Depot Room, Second Floor, City Hall, 300 North Park Avenue, Sanford, Florida. Present: Mayor Jeff Triplett Vice Mayor Patty Mahany Commissioner Mark M ° Carty Commissioner Velma Williams City Manager Norton N. Bonaparte, Jr. City Attorney William L. Colbert Deputy City Clerk Cynthia Porter Absent: Commissioner Randy Jones City Clerk Janet Dougherty Mayor Triplett called the Work Session to order at 4:07 PM. 1. Marina Isle Planned Development Approval Extension — discussion. (Regular Meeting Item 7.A) [Commission Memo 11 -186] Public Works Director Tom George advised the Commission that the Marina Isle lease payments are five months in arrears. Also, the current year property taxes weren't paid in April and the tax appraiser issued tax certificates which someone purchased. He met with the lessee, Frank Cerasoli, this morning to work out details on a twelve month payment plan. The hotel lease is $2,083 per month and the Monroe Place lease is $5,300 per year. Utility payments for the hotel are five months behind (about $10,000) and the water is about to be turned off. The rezone and the lease are different issues and whatever is decided on the rezone does not preclude the proposed twelve month payment plan. The persons responsible for the planned development are not the 2011 -687 CITY COMMISSION MINUTES OCTOBER 10 2011 WORK SESSION same as who are responsible for the utilities not being paid. City Attorney Colbert said that what is before the Commission is a request to approve the request to extend a planned development which is set to expire before the Commission meets again. There is a provision in the City Code for an administrative extension for a period of up to six months during which time things can get worked out globally. The plan wouldn't be lost and it could come back to the Commission for consideration within the six month time frame. The Commission could continue this item pending further updates from Staff, either to a time certain or indefinitely. That would be less legally complicated than if it wasn't extended because of unpaid utility payments. Mr. Bonaparte said that a payment plan with benchmarks, a status of the accounts, and some sense of plans to develop the property can be provided to the Commission. 2. Cemetery Fee — discussion. Finance Director Cynthia Lindsay distributed a handout regarding Sanford Municipal Cemetery revenue and expenditures from fiscal year 2000 -2001 to fiscal year 2010 -2011. Mr. George said that from the time the cemetery has existed it has lost money. The City has provided a very affordable cemetery for City residents but the revenues have never covered the expenses. Losses range from $45,000 to $90,000 per year; the variance is due to some maintenance issues including road repairs. He asked the Commission to consider adjusting the rates to the average of the area (on page three of 2011 -688 CITY COMMISSION MINUTES OCTOBER 10 2011 WORK SESSION the handout). He further suggested that maybe the City shouldn't be in the cemetery business and if the Commission is amenable that consideration should be given to selling it with the additional adjacent property. Whoever purchases it will have to maintain what is there. The Commission agreed that options should be explored. 3. Christmas holiday schedule. Mr. Bonaparte distributed and reviewed a handout regarding the 2011- 2012 Holiday Schedule. Some members of the Commission expressed concern about City Hall being closed for an extended period of time during the holidays the way it was last year. Mr. Bonaparte suggested that during the holidays there could be a "shell operation ", that some Staff will be on call and stand by, and that emergency contact numbers will be made available to the public. The Commission agreed that the schedule should be decided by Mr. Bonaparte. 4. Fee waiver requests — discussion. Mr. George gave a brief outline of City fees. Requests have been received for fee waivers, however, Staff can't recommend that. There are bond covenants that prevent waivers in many cases. Funds City wide are balanced and to provide any relief there would have to be reduction in department budgets which require cuts of services or personnel. We continue to struggle with reduced revenue and increased costs. Any relief would have to be funded by some other revenue source which in essence would be paying private debt or financial obligations with public monies and we would have to prove that it serves a public purpose in order to use public funds to pay off private debt. 2011 -689 CITY COMMISSION MINUTES OCTOBER 10 2011 WORK SESSION It also opens the door for other requests from people having a hard time and it presents equity issues. There is no mechanism to implement fee waivers. Mr. Colbert said that the City has a responsibility to make a certain level of services available to the citizens: water, sewer, stormwater, police, and fire. Mr. George said that City Code provides for utility service availability charges that apply to all users, whether owner or tenant, whether or not connection has been made to the property. The City doesn't actually do this. Revenues are collected through utility billing so if a house is vacant there is no utility bill. To be consistent with the Code we should be billing for those availability charges. Some municipalities put the solid waste and stormwater charges on the tax bill once a year. Mr. Colbert said the best practice is to have your Code match what you do. He suggested that Staff and the City Attorney look at ways to harmonize the Code. It could be that there could be amendments to the Code and other collection things that could be helpful. The concern is that the City should be consistent in what is done. Mr. George said he can research what other municipalities do regarding availability charges and he will bring back comparisons to the Commission. The Mayor said he would like to see the calculations of what revenue we're missing out on. 5. Renaming 13 Street and Lake Avenue — discussion. Planning and Development Services Director Russ Gibson distributed and reviewed an agenda memorandum regarding renaming W. 13` Street back to Goldsboro and Lake Avenue to Clark Street. He said that Seminole County adopted an ordinance in 2011 -690 CITY COMMISSION MINUTES OCTOBER 10 2011 WORK SESSION 2000 (with concurrence of all municipalities in Seminole County) that standardizes how the County and all of the cities in Seminole County will proceed with addressing and/or naming streets. A covenant of the ordinance is that there shall be no duplication of street names. There exists both a Goldsboro and a Clark Road within Seminole County (both in Oviedo). He asked if the Commission wants him to approach the County and the City of Oviedo about changing the names of those streets. Mr. Colbert said this is a problem that could better have a political solution than a Staff or legal solution. It would be possible for a member of the City Commission to discuss this with a member of the Board of Seminole County Commissioners. Mayor Triplett said that he will take Mr. Colbert's suggestion and go to the County Commission first. 6. Agenda Items — additional information and/or questions. Mr. Bonaparte said that the City received a COPS grant in the amount of $1,133,670 which will provide salaries and benefits for six police officers for three years. The caveat is that we must keep them the fourth year which will cost the City about $400,000. We have to respond to the Department of Justice within 90 days of the receipt. He strongly recommended acceptance of the grant. Finance Director Lindsay and Police Chief Lee will look at ways to plan on saving $100,000 a year to provide funding for the fourth year salaries and benefits. There was no objection of the Commission. Vice Mayor Mahany gave an update on having Assistant City Attorney 2011 -691 CITY COMMISSION MINUTES OCTOBER 10 2011 WORK SESSION Groot look into our ordinances regarding panhandling and the homeless. She and Mr. Groot will meet on Thursday to review the ordinance. She plans to bring it to the Commission at the next work session. 7. END THE MEETING. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourted at 6:08 PM. Mayor Jeff Tri Attest: City Clerk cp