Okaloosa County BOCC — April 27, 2013 — Minutes — reading text

the committee, then that individual should not be able to apply for funds. Mr. Parisot said there should be no minimum value on projects. As far as Mr. Amunds concerns about being a committee member and applying for funds, he said that individual could abstain from voting. Mr. Dowd asked for a consensus on the minimum project requirement of $500,000. He asked if the consensus is yes or no. Mr. Amunds said the Board will listen to public comments while they think about this question. Ms. Cindy Frakes, Vice Chairman of the Okaloosa County School Board, said she understood from reading on the county’s website that the education member for the committee would be selected from applications but now she is confused and does not know which way the Board is leaning. She asked the commissioners to please allow the School Board to designate the education member for the advisory committee. Ms. Frakes pointed out that aside from the military, the School Board is the largest employer in the county. Mr. Amunds replied there are other educational schools and colleges in the county. Ms. Frakes reported earlier that she has scheduled a meeting with the President of Northwest Florida Community College to discuss this subject. Mr. Amunds asked her about opening up that meeting for input from any educational entity. Ms. Frakes announced the meeting is set for February 22 at 9 a.m. and she can facilitate the meeting. She expressed her concern that the college has said it wants a seat at the table. Mr. Amunds said he understood they want to actively participate but does not remember hearing they wanted a seat at the table. Mr. Boyles commented that the college offering use of it facility and other services is just a nice way of saying they want to sit at the table. Ms. Frakes said, “That is my point.” She reiterated her request is for K-12 to make the decision on the educational representative to the February 5, 2013 -21- Minute Book 68, Page Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners advisory committee. Mr. Parisot said he does not have a problem with that. Mr. Pete Blome, Niceville, felt increasing the committee membership from 9 to 11 was a good direction but questioned the creation of categories associated with each membership seat. He said this measure prejudiced the process against many interests. Mr. Blome stated the application process should be open to the public and let the people vote amongst themselves who they want as their representatives. Mrs. Rebecca Sherry, President of the Condo Alliance on Okaloosa Island, stated she is an applicant for the committee and has been endorsed by the Condo Alliance. She said the alliance has been organizing sea oat plantings since 2007 and the annual event has been 100% privately financed and conducted 100% by volunteers. Mrs. Sherry stated she has no problem with their organization not receiving any RESTORE Act funds. Mrs. Sherry also reported the Board asked the group to “stand down” from its annual spring planting this year. Mr. Parisot cited a potential problem with interference between the paid contractor and the work of the volunteers. Mr. Boyles said he did not believe there was an intent to tell this group not to proceed. Mrs. Sherry reiterated they stopped their event at the direction of the Board of County Commissioners. Mr. Kevin Wall, Holt, stated there are ways to get projects fast-tracked. He said he has heard about problems at Norriego Point for years and that is a project which should be put on the fast track but no one knows how to get it started. Mr. Wall reiterated there are ways to get projects up and running. He said the State is looking at design-build financing. Mr. Parisot pointed out the county has not received any of the funds yet. Mr. Amunds began to summarize the discussion. Mr. Boyles suggested developing a consensus. He understood the membership of the committee should be a recommendation from the Niceville/ Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce and a representative of the Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce if the League of Cities designate a Crestview membership for North County and Destin representing South County. He said he believes the Board is heading in the same direction. Mr. Boyles stated he does not believe in an “if, then” system and should it become necessary, the resolution could be amended. February 5, 2013 -22- Minute Book 68, Page Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners Mr. Parisot stated he would like to see a standardized application form. Mr. Amunds said the project cap should be defined. Mr. Boyles said he saw nothing objectionable to Mr. Parisot’s list of suggestions. Mr. Amunds asked Mr. Dowd if the resolution can be re-drafted by the next meeting. Mr. Dowd replied that he thinks Mr. Parisot’s suggested amendments should be followed and he will revise the document for the next meeting. Mr. Curry pointed out there was no feedback about the application form. Mr. Amunds stated he does not want to send an application to everyone and supports recommendations from the working committees. Mr. Curry said nothing will be sent out until the resolution is memorialized. Ms. Frakes requested clarification on members of the committee being unable to seek funding. Mr. Dowd answered that provision will be deleted. NEW BUSINESS – DISCUSSION, CONSULTING FIRM OR CONTRACT PERSON TO ASSIST IN DEVELOPMENT OF COUNTY’S FIVE-YEAR PLAN FOR RESTORE ACT Mr. Curry reported the commissioners requested staff to list the advantages and disadvantages of hiring a contractor or a consulting firm to work with the RESTORE Act Advisory Committee and preparation of a five-year plan. A brief description was given of each scenario: Contract individual Advantages: * Single “face” provides improved relationship-building opportunities with advisory committee members * Consistency in relaying progress where there is one point of contact * Familiarity with unique challenges of county if hired locally * Full-time access with office in county building Disadvantages: * Limited scope knowledge * Solutions and planning may be impacted if individual is ill or challenged with multiple priorities * Potential conflict of interest if hired locally * Contractual limitations * Cost of hiring individual would be borne entirely by the county February 5, 2013 -23- Minute Book 68, Page Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners * Early termination for performance or other criteria will leave void until replacement is brought on board * Will receive same employee benefits as county employee for duration of the contract and would be eligible for leave and sick time accrual Hiring a consulting firm Advantages: * Has a broad scope of knowledge in multiple disciplines * Brings synergy through team effort * Disconnected from conflict of interest as the contracted organization would consist of layers of oversight and distribution of expertise to reduce potential conflicting interests Disadvantages: * May not be local company * Assigns distinct points of contact representatives for each aspect of plan making it more difficult for advisory committee to work with a single individual * Possible office in a county building for a limited time or may operate from outside county premises, potentially in another state * Geographically separate location may span one or more time zones, impacting ability to have “real time” communication with advisory committee on relevant issues Mr. Curry advised that he saw a news article from Bay County and they are going to use both approaches. Mr. Parisot’s thoughts were to get a multi-year plan developed, on paper, and sent to the Federal authorities but no dollars would flow until the plan is approved. He saw advantages in hiring a consulting firm, saying a single person would have limitations. Mr. Parisot said a consideration would be to hire a person for monitoring after the plan is developed. He supported preparation of a RFQ for hiring a consulting firm. Mr. Amunds agreed with preparation of the RFQ, noting many guidelines have not yet been sent down from the Federal Government. Mr. Boyles said initially his position was to hire one or the other but after reading the Bay County article, he found merit in the hybrid approach. Mr. Amunds said the contract person would report directly to the County Administrator. February 5, 2013 -24- Minute Book 68, Page Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners Mr. Curry agreed with the dual approach. He said a five-year plan needs to be in place. Mr. Curry stated once the RESTORE Act Advisory Committee is established, and if the Board concurs, staff will begin work for the dual approach and return to the Board for final action. Mr. Windes said he is in support of hiring a consulting firm, pointing out the magnitude of the project calls for this level of expertise. He stated he will agree with the majority of the Board and noted this may not be a local firm. COMPLIANCE OFFICER AT TDC Mr. Amunds asked how soon a job description could be prepared for the position of Compliance Officer at Tourist Development. Mr. Windes said the Tourist Development Council did approve the concept at its last meeting. Upon inquiry by Mr. Amunds, GinNeal McVay (HR Department) stated the job description could be available within two weeks. CODY AVENUE/HIGHWAY 98 OVERPASS Mr. Amunds stated groundbreaking for the Cody Avenue/Highway 98 Overpass will be February 7. VISITOR – STEVE MENCHEL, SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS Mr. Steve Menchel said he attended the January 22 meeting and wanted to share his thoughts about School Resource Officers (SROs) but after waiting three hours he left without speaking. He wanted to speak on ways to pay for this cost which included use of retired law enforcement officers and use of part-time employees. Mr. Menchel suggested the deputies who were laid off because of prior year budget cuts be given the first right of refusal on these positions. He also asked about the use of the Sheriff’s posse. Other suggestions were for the use of non- armed volunteers and encouraging parents to man the entrances to the schools. Mr. Menchel also requested reconsideration of protocol which sets aside public commentary at the end of the meetings. With regard to an internal probe on the TDC fraud investigation, he asked for the Board to schedule a public briefing for citizens on the county’s findings. February 5, 2013 -25- Minute Book 68, Page Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners Mr. Amunds said if anyone wants to speak during the meeting, all they have to do is let him know. VISITOR – HAROLD LAFOUNTAIN, SHALIMAR ROAD CONSTRUCTION AND RUNOFF INTO BAY Mr. Harold LaFountain expressed concern about the road project in Shalimar and contamination of the bay with runoff from the project. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 11:58 a.m. _____________________________ _______________________________ DON W. HOWARD DON R. AMUNDS, CHAIRMAN CLERK OF CIRCUIT COURT BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS (These minutes were transcribed by Teresa Ward.) **** February 5, 2013 -26- Minute Book 68, Page Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners