Fort Walton Beach Council minutes — 10-09-06 special minutes — reading text

67 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 9, 2006 INTRODUCTION The City Council of the City of Fort Walton Beach, Florida held a special meeting, in session with the Okaloosa County Board of Commissioners, at the Creative Senior Citizen' s Center located at 31 SW Memorial Parkway, Fort Walton Beach, on Monday, October 9, 2006 at 6: 00 p. m. with the following members present: r-- Mayor Mike Anderson Councilmen: Mike Holmes; Bill Patterson; Bob Campbell, Mayor Pro Tem; Jim Tucker; Dr. w Wayne Pullen; Jim Hartwell; and Mike Minich. Also present: Joyce Shanahan, City Manager; Finance Director (Position vacant); Helen Spencer, City Clerk; Toni Craig, City Attorney; and Media County Commissioners: Sherry Campbell, Chairman; Elaine Tucker; Bill Roberts; Don Amunds, Vice- Chair; and James Campbell. Also present: Jim Curry, County Administrator; Gary Sanford, representing Clerk of Court; and John Dowd, County Attorney. CALL TO ORDER The Mayor called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone. He requested anyone who wished to address Council to approach the podium after being recognized, and then state his or her name and address for the record. PLEDGE The Mayor led in the Pledge of Allegiance. PURPOSE The Mayor stated the purpose of the special meeting in session with the County Commissioners is to discuss the City owned Softball Complex/Fairgounds property on Lewis Turner Boulevard as a possible site for the new Okaloosa County Courthouse Annex, and to get the County' s level of interest or preference for a location. COURTHOUSE ANNEX Commissioner Campbell mentioned at this time the County has several site locations to place the judicial center and they are open for another possible site. She said they have been working on this project for many years and need to move ahead as quickly as possible, and they are open to what the City has to offer. She wished to hear what parcels the City is willing to offer to the County, and how Mr. Tucker arrived at the price of $200,000 an acre when the appraisal in 2005 was less than that amount. Councilman Tucker expressed that the City has always lost money when property was purchase and he did not want that to happen again and wants the City to make a profit. He expressed his desire for the Judicial Center to be located on Lewis Turner and that the Fairgrounds stay at that location, but he wanted it purchased from the City and the citizens to make a profit, and he just picked a number. Councilman Campbell commented that $200,000 an acre is a little high and expressed his hope that the City and the County can arrive at a consensus or agreement on a figure that would benefit both parties and for the Judicial Center to be located in the City. 68 Special Council 10- 9- 06 COURTHOUSE ANNEX coot. Commissioner Roberts noted there are two sites, one next to the fire department and the other is the parking lot of the fairgrounds. He wished to know if the price per acre were different for both sites, or if the parties will try to come to an agreement on a figure per acre. He requested clarification on which parcels are being considered. The Mayor explained the City has been addressing the four different alternatives, AI, A2, A3, and A4, presented by HLM. Councilman Hartwell commented that none of the schemes mention the amount of which will be an important factor in making a decision. He stated the acreage needed would need to know how City many acres the County would need and, if the fair grounds were to stay, how much of the parking space it would encroach. J The Mayor mentioned it is also important to know, if the City goes forward with the master planning for the whole area, how much acreage the County would need and if there is a of the four preference sites. Mr. Curry stated they have been discussing approximately 15 acres to accommodate, the facility, the parking and the necessary stonn water. Councilman Pullen favored scheme A3 design because it would keep the ball fields intact, and noted that part of the property could be used for joint parking. He suggested they look at what is needed for the building and work out joint parking facilities. Commissioner Amunds questioned whether it would be possible under scheme A3 to keep the fair grounds and work out an Interlocal Agreement for the Complex, Fairgrounds, and the Annex to share the parking, rather than the County actually purchasing the parking area and the City would still own it. Councilman Pullen suggested the County could purchase part of the parking lot and an Interlocal Agreement could be entered into for shared parking. Councilman Minich favored a solution that would allow the fairgrounds and the Courthouse Annex to be on the site. He liked the solution of a joint use parking lot with the City to retain ownership but favored design scheme A2 with the ball fields moved back. He stated the City paid the appraised value and the property should be sold for the appraised value, but only for the site the County needs with the City to retain the parking lot area and receive a fee for maintenance of the parking yearly lot, and be able to plan for parking in emergency situations. The Mayor noted, for clarification, that Schemes Al and A2 show the site design on the softball fields in the southeast quadrant and would cause the soft ball fields to be moved, and Scheme A3 and A4 show the site design in the parking lot in the southwest Councilman Hartwell wished to know how far north 15 acres would the southwest quadrant in order to see the quadrant. go if placed in the parking lot of j impact on the present fairgrounds operation. Commissioner Campbell wished to know how much of the 15 acres would be for shared parking. Mr. Curry estimated approximately 7- 8 acres for the building and stormwater and approximately 7- 8 acres for parking.  Special Council 10- 9- 06 69 COURTHOUSE ANNEX cont. The City Manager commented it is likely they would have to shift one of the ball fields in order to accommodate all three uses, the ball fields, the fairgrounds, and the annex, on that property; or put additional parking in an area outside of where the parking is currently for the Fair Association and the ball fields. r It was noted that the parking lot is a little over 7 acres and the ball fields is a little over 12 acres. i Councilman Tucker voiced support of shared parking. He stated the City carries the community for l everything and receives little compensation and expressed his desire that the County should bear more of the burden for the parking and the recreation. He said he would only support anything that gives the City more of an opportunity to make money. The Mayor wished to know if the County, individually or collectively, had come up with a preferred location if the annex were to be located at that property. Mr. Curry stated the County has not had discussion on a preference and only asked HLM Design to look at the property and give a visual aid how it would fit if it were located on that site, which is where the four different scenarios came from. The Mayor noted that one of the alternate designs has a three story structure and another has a five story structure with a parking garage, and wished to know why a parking garage would be needed if the structure were higher. Mr. Curry explained that HLM Design was asked to give different scenarios with the height limitation at 50' and if that were not an issue to give a visual with a footprint for a five story facility, and to show how the surface parking would be reduced if a parking garage was added. He said they are working tools with different visuals to see how much land area would be required. Councilman Minich commented it had not been decided whether two of the ball fields could be moved to the north. He expressed his thought that there is enough land to accommodate both the fairgrounds and the annex and still have parking. He commented if there is a need to pre- position large equipment in the event of an emergency situation that it could not be done if there was a parking garage. Commissioner Campbell wished to hear from the Council members which parcel they think is the best parcel they would offer the County that would accommodate the City' s needs, the Fairground needs, and the County'