Fort Walton Beach Council minutes — 09-28-2010 regular — reading text

informed at their September meeting, the CRA Board of Commissioners asked for a joint meeting with Council, possibly before one of the regular meetings in October, to provide direction for the future. Mr. Beedie continued the City is in the process of updating the CRA Plan and this would be a good time for Council and the CRA Board to meet. Mr. Beedie informed the new CRA plan is not scheduled to be completed until December, and that a lot of the information from the meeting with Council will be included in the CRA Plan. Mr. Rynearson moved to hold a joint meeting with the CRA Board on October 12 at 5: 00 pm, before the regular Council meeting. Mr. Holmes seconded motion and it carried unanimously with Holmes, gossom, Reeves, Minich, Nabors, Rigdon, and Rynearson in favor. ROY JONES, JR. TOUR TO PREVENT CHILDHOOD OBESITY The Mayor asked Council if there was any support of the Roy Jones, Jr. Tour to Prevent Childhood Obesity by acting as a sponsor for the event. There was no interest or action from Council. REVIEW OF LANDMARK CENTER DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT Review of the Landmark Center Development Agreement. Michael Beedie, Engineering/ Utilities Director, informed that Chapter 163. 3235 of the Florida Statues states that local governments shall review land subject to a development agreement at least once every 12 months to determine if there has been a demonstrated good faith compliance with the terms of the development agreement. 246 Regular Council Meeting 9 -28 -10 LANDMARK CENTER REVIEW (CONT) Mr. Beedie noted that the last review for the Landmark Center development was in September of 2009, and he is bringing a review forward at this time. Mr. Beedie continued that at the July 7, 2010 CRA meeting, the CRA Board recommended to request the City Council to review the Landmark Center Development Agreement for ways to free up the funding in the amount of $633, 434 to utilize on current and future projects within the CRA. The Board also recommended renegotiation of the Development Agreement when it is ready to move forward. At the September 2, 2010 meeting of the Municipal Planning Board, the developers received unanimous approval from the MPB for a conditional use for transient lodging at the Landmark Center. Mr. Beedie discussed three terms of the agreement that have not been fulfilled by the developer: 1) The purchase of parking deck spaces by the City after complete and satisfactory final inspections are complete, or on May 31, 2009, whichever is later. This provision has not become effective because construction has not begun and it is not complete. Because of this, developers shall be found in default. 2) Guaranty, performance bond, or letter of credit. The developer has not provided a personal guaranty or performance bond. 3) If developer does not apply for and receive a building permit within 18 month of execution of this agreement, that failure shall be considered a default of the agreement. The Developer is in default because no Development Agreement was executed on December 13, 2007, and to date there is no application for a building permit. Mr. Beedie stated that although everyone would like to see this project happen, the underlying factor is the funds that cannot be used for other projects because it is being held for this project. After conferring with the City Attorney, it was decided the best way to release the funds is to declare the Developer in default of the Agreement by written notice of the City Manager which would begin a 30 -day period in which the defaults could be resolved. Based on information Staff recommends that the City Council approve the CRA Board recommendation to release the $ 633, 434 that was allocated through the CRA budget for the initial purchase of parking spaces to utilize on current and future projects within the CRA District, and that the City Council declare the Developer in default of the current Development Agreement, and authorize the City Manager to send proper written notice to the Developer of such default. Council was advised that if the developer for for the applies a building permit entire development that would satisfy the items that place them in default. He also informed that to the City' s knowledge, there are no other interests or applications for the property. The Mayor asked for public input. Ken Wright, 159 Brooks Street, and representative of the Landmark project, discussed the substantial effort and money the developer has expended to accomplish the aspects contained in the Development Agreement, including meeting with City staff, architects, engineers, and so on. Mr. Wright further discussed changing the upper portion of the project from condo units to a hotel, and that the developers had to apply to the City' s planning board for an exception, which caused delays.  247 Regular Council Meeting 9 -28 -10 LANDMARK CENTER REVIEW (CONT) Mr. Wright mentioned the reasons that the location has drawn an interest by the hospitality business, and feels it is a great opportunity for the City to bring in tax revenue. Mr. Wright also stated that clarification of the language is needed because the Development Order and Agreement have been extended until March 2012 and some of the time frames in the original agreement appear to be in conflict with the extension. Mr. Wright entered a -mails from local downtown merchants in favor of the project into the record. Charlie Noonan, 510 Gulf Shore Drive, Destin, has been in the hotel business for over 35 years and spoke in favor of the project, stating the developers have been working hard and that plans for a hotel will be a real boost to the economy. Mr. Noonan also stressed the importance of the parking garage to the project. Jim Moore, attorney for the Landmark Group, stressed the Development Order relating to this project has been extended until 2012, and mentioned there is conflicting language in the agreement that needs to be clarified for the developers to move forward. The developers are asking for Council to let them meet with Staff to make recommendations on clarifications of the contract language so the compliance with items that need to be done can be set, and then they propose to return to Council with specific dates. Discussion included whether or not the project could be moved forward in 30 to 60 days if the language were clarified; and that not a lot of communication has occurred as of late between the developer with Staff. Valerie Wenzel, 29 Country Club, Shalimar, and business owner downtown, spoke in favor of the project and asked Council to show good faith and give the developer the extra time requested. Donna Azair, downtown business owner, also spoke in favor of the project, stating it would bring a lot of business for the area. Doug Reed, 842 Santa Rosa Court, spoke as a merchant and not as chairman of the CRA Board, stating it is time to move on, that there are projects that can be done in the CRA area but cannot be done until those funds are released. There was no additional public input. Mr. Rigdon moved to release the $ 633, 434 that was allocated through the CRA budget for the initial purchase of parking spaces to utilize on current and future projects within the CRA District, and to declare the Developer in default of the current Development Agreement and authorize the City Manager to send proper written notice to the Developer of such default. Mr. Reeves seconded motion. The City Attorney clarified that the developer would have 30 days to make a cure of any of the default items, and the project would move forward if they fix the items in default within 30 days. MIA Regular Council Meeting 9 -28 -10 LANDMARK CENTER REVIEW (CONT) Council expressed the feeling they are still in favor of the project and hopes the developer can solve his problems; however, the City and Council have bent over backwards and nothing has been done, and the funding needs to be put to use. The Mayor called for the vote on the motion and it carried unanimously with Holmes, gossom, Reeves, Minich, Nabors, Rigdon, and Rynearson in favor. AWARD OF AUDITING SERVICES CONTRACT The Finance Director advised the City received four proposals to the RFP for auditing services from Carr Riggs & Ingram; James Moore & Company; O' Sullivan Creel; and Saltmarsh, Cleveland, & Gund. The Audit Committee ranked the firms with O' Sullivan Creel receiving the first place ranking, followed by James Moore & Company and Carr, Riggs & Ingram. Staff requests that Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate a contract with O' Sullivan Creel, the number one ranked firm, and if negotiations are not successful, the City Manager will undertake negotiations with the second and then the third ranked firms. The Mayor asked for public input. There was none. Mr. Holmes moved to authorize the City Manager to negotiate a contract with O' Sullivan Creel, the number one ranked firm, and if negotiations are not successful, the City Manager will undertake negotiations with the second and then the third ranked firms. Mr. Reeves seconded motion. Mr. Nabors stated he cannot support the motion because of the way the process was handled, and does not feel comfortable with changing the process to supersede the way the process was done previously. The Mayor called for the vote on the motion and it carried by a vote of 6 to 1 with Holmes, gossom, Reeves, Minich, Rigdon, and Rynearson in favor and Nabors opposed. SETTING OF WINTER SCHEDULE The City Manager requested Council set the winter schedule for Council meetings, taking into account the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Mr. Reeves moved to hold the scheduled City Council meetings of November 9 and 23 and December 14, and to cancel the City Council meeting of December 28. Mr. Minich seconded motion and it carried unanimously with Holmes, gossom, Reeves, Minich, Nabors, Rigdon, and Rynearson in favor. CITY MANAGER REPORTS The City Manager discussed the ways in which the EDC benefits both the City and County. He advised that the City applied for a $ 500,000 grant through the Florida Defense Grant to assist in the Hurlburt Reclaim Water Model, which had to go through the EDC, and the City was informed it was awarded the grant, and he feels that is a good return on the $ 14, 000 investment. The City Manager further informed the County received $ 500,000 in grant funding, so this county received 1 million dollars in grant funding through the efforts of the EDC.  249 Regular Council Meeting 9 -28 -10 CITY ATTORNEY REPORTS The