Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 12-11-2007 regular agenda — reading text

thing with city owned property. Mr. Garvie moved to accept the recommendations presented by the City Manager that require no further action. Mr. Minich seconded motion and it carried unanimously with Holmes, Miller, Reeves, Garvie, Pullen, Hartwell, and Minich in favor.  Special Council 11- 26- 07 215 STUDY cont. The City Manager went over the recommendations which are an on going effort: 15 -systematic effort should be made to transfer as many finance activities as possible to the bank a and secondarily to one or more private contractors. 16 - evaluate all possible opportunities for electronic transfer of data. 17 - explore the feasibility of contracting out for utility payment processing or purchase machine. 20 - continue existing purchasing policies with periodic review or concurrency and adherence to modern standards. 31 - consider a concerted inter- departmental effort combining Police and J City Attorney to aggressively pursue forfeited assets -including vehicles, personal property and real estate assets. 35 - ensure an adequate training budget for the Police Department. Mr. Miller moved to accept the recommendations presented by the City Manager that are an ongoing effort. Mr. Reeves seconded motion and it carried unanimously with Holmes, Miller, Reeves, Garvie, Pullen, Hartwell, and Minich in favor. The City Manager went over the recommendations that require further Council action or concurrence. Recommendation # 39 - close the Senior Center and achieve the higher I! evel of savings of $78, 185. 00. The City Manager noted the Department Director disagreed and she had limited agreement subject to availability of funds and the outcome of the property tax reform on City revenues. She reported staff recommendation is to keep the Senior Center open now and continue to explore additional partnerships with other non- profit agencies, staffing the center with the use of volunteers with the exception of the Center Manager and reducing hours. She requested Council consideration to continue to explore keeping the center open and revisit the issue during the FY 08- 09 budget process once they have a better idea of what the constitutional amendment might mean and additional revenue caps they may be facing It was questioned if reduced hours were considered in the meantime. The City Manager stated reducing hours was not considered for this year, but the hours and staffing level was reduced for the FY 07- 08 budget. Jeff Peters, Parks & Recreation Director, explained hours and staff personnel were cut back and as aresult it has been tough to staff rentals on the weekend. It was questioned whether thought had been given to leasing the entire facility to the City of Mary Esther to run the Senior Center. The Parks &Recreation Director stated many ideas have come up on partnering with different organizations. He commented it is felt that the Senior Center, and the seniors, are just as important as the youth and they will do everything they can to ensure there is a senior center. He said the whole group is putting their heads together to come up with ways to make it more efficient for the expenses and revenues. The Mayor opened the floor for public input. Lorraine Gelpi- Adkins, 115 Lorraine Court, Mary Esther, expressed that since the meeting in October a petition was signed by every member or person who used the facility to keep the center open. She distributed a copy of the monthly calendar that lists all the classes and activities offered at the center and stated it is a very viable building. Frank Mailhes, 26 Hemlock Drive, expressed his belief it was a temporary fix and addressed the need to keep the center open and take care of the senior citizens who deserve something they can rely on and have a place to go. He suggested an avenue to explore would be to approach some of the businesses about co- sponsoring senior citizen activities. Ann Kuehnel, 702 Russell Blvd, mentioned the center is worth the higher fee she pays as a County resident and addressed the need to advertise more on what is offered at the center and where it is located in order to broaden membership and keep it open. 2 1 S9cial Council 11- 26- 07 STUDY cont. Nancy Raynsford, 247 Beachview Drive, described her use of the center and the fitness classes she takes in order to stay in good physical condition to be able to continue to care of her husband who has Alzheimer' s disease. She asked the center not be closed as there are many activities there for seniors and without it they would have no place to go. Bruce Blackwelder, 200 Miracle Strip Parkway SW, commented the seniors are the fastest growing segment of the population. He addressed the need for more advertisin~1 to target the snowbirds and suggested the TDC as a possible source of funding. Ursela Ronneker, 723 Greenwood Street, mentioned she volunteers at the center to teach art classes and spoke about the importance of keeping the senior center open. Chuck Bolton, 180 Brian Circle, spoke about the increasing number of baby boomers who will start having a need for the facility and suggested considering a factor of increase rather than considering a possibility for decrease on a facility that is necessary. Blanche Brackin, 18 Lakeshore Drive, spoke about how much the center means to so many people and the service it performs for the county. She encouraged everyone to work together to keep the center open. Harvey Hall, 276 Beachview Drive, encouraged the City to not only think about the budget but also consider what would be done with the property if the center is closed. He also addressed the method of payment on the rental use of the property and suggested one check be made to the clerk and one check to the city so that the fee for the clerk does not have to be budgeted. Elaine Mifflin, 229- A Alchonese Avenue, spoke about the importance of the senior center and encouraged the City not to close the facility. Beverly Kapsa, 306 Holmes Blvd, spoke about the importance of the social network and programs available at the center to help the seniors stay healthy. As no one else wished to speak, public input was closed. The City Manager recapped that the staff suggestion is no action be taken during the current budget year and to give staff additional time as they formulate the 2008- 09 budget to review partnering opportunities, look atstaffing opportunities, and explore ways to keep the senior center viable as the city maintains the budget moving forward, then staff will make a recommendation during the 08- 09 budget process. Mr. Minich moved to maintain the senior center as is and direct staff to explore other funding mechanisms and cost saving measures. Dr. Pullen seconded motion. Discussion included comments about the important service the senior center provides and the need to work together to find a way to keep it open, and expressions of support to keep the facility open. The Mayor called for the vote on the motion and it carried unaniltlously with Holmes, Miller, Reeves, Garvie, Pullen, Hartwell, and Minich in favor. Recommendation # 44 - Transfer the museum to another organization, such as the US Park Service, local universities, a local non- profit organization for this purpose, or transferring it to an Indian tribe ( cost savings estimated at $ 130, 000). The City Manager noted the Department Director disagreed and she had limited agreement. She did not believe anything needed to be done in the current fiscal year and staff wants an opportunity to continue to explore various arrangements and alternative funding arrangements as well as give the new partnership Museum Director additional time to implement some of her ideas. Special Council 11- 26- 07 2. 1 7 STUDY cont. The City Manager mentioned her main concern with this issue is the safeguarding of the artifacts at the museum. She mentioned many of the artifacts are on loan from private individuals and if the collection were to be turned over to a university, she understands many of the individuals would not want those artifacts to remain with the city through the process. She said staff is requesting time to maintain it as it is currently, continue to seek alternate funding opportunities and to look for cost saving measures. It was questioned whether it is viable to maintain a facility that cost $ 130, 000 a year. The City Manager recalled several years ago when there was a push to do away with the museum a Council appointed committee developed a museum action plan and staff has barely been given an opportunity to implement the action plan. She mentioned a museum co- operative is being formed in the County and there may be some help for some funding, and staff needs more time to explore ideas. The Mayor opened the floor for public input. Bill Lucas, 7 Pembroke Place, Chairman of the Friends of the Museum, expressed that the Friends support the City Manager' s recommendation. Dennis Standing Bear Compos, 334 Morgan Lane, addressed the Native American aspect of the temple mound and recalled a previous Council decided it was a sacred site and would not do anything with it. He expressed his belief it is not a viable idea to turn the museum over to another organization that may tear down the mound and build a McDonald' s. He expressed hope that the wisdom of the previous Council will be considered and not to privatize the temple mound. As no one further wished to speak, public input was closed. It was recalled the property was donated to the city and questioned whether there was a restriction that would not allow the City to do anything with the property. Laura Bessinger- Morse, Museum Director, explained there is a stipulation regarding the piece of land when it was given to the City