Fort Walton Beach Council minutes — 02-10-09 special minutes — reading text

119 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH, FLORIDA LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FEBRUARY 10, 2009 INTRODUCTION A special meeting of the City Council of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, was held on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 5: 00 p. m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, with the following members present: Mayor Mike Anderson Councilmen: Mike Holmes, Virgil Miller, Bill Garvie, Dr. Wayne Pullen, Jim Hartwell, and Mike Minich Absent: Dennis Reeves Also Present: Robert Mearns, Acting City Manager; Helen Spencer, City Clerk; Toni Craig, City Attorney; and Department Directors. PURPOSE The purpose of this meeting is consideration of setting legislative priorities. CALL TO ORDER The Mayor called the meeting to order. PLEDGE The Mayor led in the Pledge of Allegiance. HURLBURT REUSE WATER PROJECT Consideration of a request for Council to direct staff to coordinate with The Advocacy Group to send a letter to Governor Crist soliciting his support for stimulus funding for the Hurlburt Reuse (Water) project. John Hofstad, Utilities Director, mentioned the State could potentially receive several million dollars in federal stimulus funds that will be earmarked for shovel -ready projects. He stated the City does have a project on the books as they were only able to get one -third of the infrastructure in the ground for the Hurlburt Reuse project so there is two- thirds of the project left to complete to put in two miles of line to the Beal Memorial Cemetery. He mentioned speaking with the lobbyist group and a local committee about putting together a letter to send to the Governor and certain cabinet members requesting inclusion in the funding source should it get handed down from the federal government. He requested Council allow staff to draft a letter to send to the Governor's office for inclusion in the funding source for that project. There was a question on the preparation and delivery of the letter. Mr. Hofstad clarified that The Advocacy Group will assist with the crafting of the letter to be signed by the Mayor, and the lobbyist group will hand deliver the letter to Tallahassee to act on the City's behalf as the conduit to get the message to the Governor's office and those particular individuals responsible for dispersing the funds. He mentioned he also sits on a committee of Panhandle Utility Directors that has been discussing how to potentially secure funding not only individually, but collectively as a Panhandle group. He said he will use every avenue available to secure funding for the City. During some discussion it was commented that the project would be an advantage to the base and suggested that a letter of endorsement from the base commander of Hurlburt Field be attached to the letter from the City of Fort Walton Beach.  Special Council 2 -10 -09 120 HURLBURT REUSE WATER PROJECT cont. The Mayor opened the floor for public input. As no one wished to speak public input was closed. Mr. Miller moved to direct staff to coordinate with The Advocacy Group and proceed with sending the letter ( requesting consideration for stimulus funds to complete the Hurlburt Reuse project). Mr. Minich seconded motion and it carried unanimously with Holmes, Miller, Garvie, Pullen, Hartwell, and Minich in favor (Reeves absent). LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES Consideration of setting legislative priorities. The Mayor opened the floor for discussion with the suggestion that each Council member submit a list of three or four items to the City Clerk who would compile the list and the top three or four items that have the most votes would be the topics that go forward. Mr. Garvie mentioned the Okaloosa- Walton Transportation Planning Organization (OWTPO) will be setting priorities for the Okaloosa and Walton areas and each City will have an opportunity to bring forward their priorities. Discussion on identifying priority issues included an exchange of thoughts on issues important to unpaved streets, water the City such as transportation, the home rule, no unfunded mandates, management, neighborhood stabilization programs, drainage problems in the Combs neighborhood, and stormwater filters. During discussion it was mentioned that one of the tasks of The Advocacy Group is to look for funds that are available. It was also commented that anything The Advocacy Group does will benefit the City and it is not necessary to give them a list as they will monitor legislation to identify what is important to the City. Mr. Garvie mentioned he and the Mayor will also travel to Tallahassee to lobby on behalf of the City and expressed a desire for direction from Council. The Mayor described the procedure used last year where on a weekly basis The Advocacy Group TAG) would send a list on the status of the House and Senate bills, then the City Manager and he would have a conference call with TAG to go over the list and the lobbyist would tell them which ones were most important to the City. He mentioned, based on the calls from The Advocacy Group, that he and the City Manager can prepare a memo of record to recap what is going on so Council will know which issues are hot and what issues are important to the City that need support. The Mayor said he will make sure to share with Council the status update on specific bills each week. Council concurred with continuing to follow the procedure described by the Mayor. ADJOURNMENT Being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:40 p. m. ATT ST: C TY CLERK ddm