Okaloosa County BOCC — October 5, 2013 — 7-16-13 Regular Meeting — reading text

keep the property on his side of the wall and Surf Dweller can have the interests on the other side of the wall. Mr. Aaron White, Attorney representing Surf Dweller Condominium, announced they have reached an agreement. He said at the time of the vacation, no agreement had been reached. However, lines for a north-south split were made but never filed in the public records. Mr. White stated the current wall will be used as the property line for development purposes. He advised that he has no objection. Mr. Dave Sherry, Surf Dweller resident, remarked the only issue he had was the line and he spoke with Mr. Bruner. He said the north half will be Mr. Bruner's and the south half will belong to Surf Dweller. Mr. Sherry added that he has no desire to hold up the project. Mr. Vance Parker, Vice President of the Surf Dweller Condominium Association, stated the condo association has worked with Mr. Bruner and has no objection to his request. Mr. Parisot made motion, seconded by Mr. Windes, to approve the site plan and to authorize staff to place the Notice of Intent to a Development Order with the stipulation of the quitclaim provisions discussed by the parties. Mr. Kampert stated the July 16, 2013 -11- Minute Book 69, Page 219 Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners sign will be posted and there will be a 10-day period for anyone to object to the Development Order. Mr. Bruner, Fort Walton Beach, stated he does not need any further delays on this project, emphasizing the agreement between him and the Surf Dweller included a provision for no further delays. He said he is not going to do it until the 10-day period has passed. Mr. Bruner asked for the DO to be issued today and he will go on record that he will complete the quitclaim provisions of the motion. Mr. Kampert stated the DO cannot be issued until after the 10- day period. Upon inquiry, Mr. Dowd stated Mr. Bruner is objecting to the provision of Mr. Parisot's motion requiring the quitclaim of property before the 10-day period expires. Mr. Boyles commented that he has heard from the Surf Dwellers Homeowners Association and they do not object to moving forward. He was of the opinion the DO should be approved and let this project move forward. Mr. Parisot restated his motion which was again seconded by Mr. Windes: approve the site plans and post the Notice of Intent to Issue a Development Order for Fairfield Field Inn & Suites. Mr. Kampert asked if the motion can include a stipulation for a revised site plan showing the boundaries of the property per the conditions of the agreement between both parties. Mr. Siner stated that will be taken care of when the final set of plans is issued. 5 yeas. PUBLIC SAFETY - UPDATE ON SEWAGE SPILL ON JULY 6 Mr. Dino Villani, Public Safety Director, stated he wants to update the Board on the events surrounding the sewage spill on July 6. He reported a countywide meeting was held at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to analyze the event and determine if procedures were followed, to find out what went right and what went wrong. He said all stakeholders attended the meeting (city officials from Valparaiso and Fort Walton Beach, other sewer operators). Mr. Villani stated that all procedures were followed but they did not work. He said they are recommending redundant procedures. Continuing, Mr. Villani referred to the current State procedures and said he thinks it is ridiculous that someone 150 miles away is required to notify the County of these type spills. He explained that the entity with the event is required to notify the State Warning Point. The State Warning Point then notifies the County. Mr. Villani July 16, 2013 -12- Minute Book 69, Page 220 Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners said they are recommending that for events, the entity also notify the County Health Department and the County EOC. Mr. Amunds stated this is not a public hearing but in the spirit of cooperation he will give one representative from the City of Valparaiso and one representative from the City of Fort Walton Beach an opportunity to speak. Mr. Michael Beedie, Fort Walton Beach City Manager, thanked the Board for an opportunity to speak. He said that the City was put on the defensive from the beginning by comments which appeared in the newspaper. Mr. Beedie said the spill was because of upgrading at the lift station. He advised the City had two spills at Pump Station #1 on July 6. The first occurred at 10:45 a.m. and staff reported it immediately. Approximately 30,000 gallons of sewage went into the storm drain and into Santa Rosa Sound. The pump was repaired at noon and the State Warning Point was contacted at 12:36 p.m. Mr. Beedie said they also tried to contact the County Health Department but only got a recording with no contact number. He stated they continued to clean up the spill. At 1:50 p.m. Mr. Beedie said at the same location a discharge pipe blew apart, spilling 1 million gallons of sewage. He reported only 10% made it into the waterway. It drained into the Coral Ditch at the Sound and not at Liza Jackson Park as reported in the newspaper. The pipe was repaired and the spill cleaned up by 5:00 p.m. He pointed out that cleaning up that spill in three hours was phenomenal. Mr. Beedie said the State Warning Point was advised of the spill at 3:00 p.m. Because city crews were already in the area, Mr. Beedie stated they responded to the Housing Authority Site quickly and there were no problems. There was, however, a backup in two of the houses. Mr. Beedie advised that sampling of the area, both upstream and downstream, continued through the weekend. He pointed out that because of heavy rains the fecal count at Liza Jackson Park was higher before July 4 than after the spill on Monday, July 8, after the spill. Mr. Beedie said the State Warning Point is set up to allow utilities to make one telephone call. He noted that it is the City’s protocol to notify the Health Department, repeating they were unable to get in touch with anyone with the Health Department. Mr. Beedie stressed that every utility is aware of the protocol, pointing out the utility has 24 hours to make July 16, 2013 -13- Minute Book 69, Page 221 Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners notification of a spill. He said each agency is responsible for carrying out the rule and underscored that the City did carry out its responsibility but he cannot speak for the other agencies. Continuing, Mr. Beedie stated when he and his staff decided to become public servants, they understood responding to events/situations is a 24-7 requirement. He said his staff notified him of the spill via text message and he then emailed the City Council of the incident. He pointed out this system worked. Mr. Beedie said he has given every department director an IPad and they must be available 24-7 or they are accountable to him. Mr. Beedie pointed out they are permitted by the State, not the County, and they must follow the State Warning Point protocol. He stated the County has no jurisdiction over the City’s utilities. Mr. Beedie stated they agreed to contact the Health Department, referring to the policy drafted at the meeting yesterday. He said the Destin Water Users experienced a spill yesterday. The County was notified at 6:49 p.m. and the Health Department at 6:53. Mr. Beedie pointed out they are working together. He expressed his feelings that the manner in which the July 6 spill was handled was a travesty. Mr. James Valandingham, Public Works Director for the City of Valparaiso, stated he agrees with Mr. Beedie and reported Valparaiso also followed protocol. He advised that the City had three separate incidents, two of those were at the same lift station but at different manholes. Mr. Valandingham said remediation for these two spills took 24 hours and the other went into the second day. He reported staff was on site immediately and staff has identified the problem area of the infrastructure which will be brought to their board with recommendations for a permanent fix. Mr. Valandingham noted that he went to the State Warning Point website to verify he was following protocol. He was also told by the State Warning Point that the State is responsible for contacting other entities. Mr. Valandingham said they want to work for the citizens of the county and it is not about blame. He told the BCC he likes the idea of a redundant system but believes there are still some “kinks” to be worked out. Mr. Valandingham stated another concern for him personally are comments attributed to Health Department Director Dr. Chapman July 16, 2013 -14- Minute Book 69, Page 222 Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners and Commissioner Boyles. He felt those remarks were reactionary, irresponsible, and inaccurate. Mr. Amunds recognized Fort Walton Beach Mayor Mike Anderson who also desired to speak. Mayor Anderson said he wants to give a shout out to the Fort Walton Beach city staff for their work. He stated what they did was incredible. He said emphasis was placed on making phone calls to county officials when the spill occurred but he thinks it is ironic that individuals want a redundant phone call system but they did not make a telephone call themselves before making comments in the newspaper. Mayor Anderson said he believes an apology to the city staff of Fort Walton Beach is needed form the County and from the Health Department. Mr. Boyles referred to the apology the Mayor spoke of and said it should not be from the county because the remarks he made were as a single elected official. He said he had more optimism for resolution and chose not to attend the meeting which reviewed the events and procedures. Mr. Boyles remarked that his comments were not to besmirch the Cities of Fort Walton Beach or Valparaiso and he does not take issue with the cities making the telephone calls to the State Warning Point. However, he said the public did need to know about the one-million gallon sewage spill but that information was not released until Monday afternoon. He emphasized that his problem was the public was not provided the information and there was a failure in communications. Mr. Boyles said he believes there is still a problem and he will continue to pursue this issue. Mr. Parisot asked about the availability of vacuum trucks from other entities to help in the cleanup. Mr. Jeff Littrell, Okaloosa County Water & Sewer System Director, replied there is an agreement among many of the utilities to provide assistance but it is primarily for hurricanes. He stated there is also a master list of equipment available in each utility. Mr. Littrell said a request was received from Valparaiso and they did provide a pump to help with the one which was struggling. Mr. Parisot asked about amending the agreement to cover these type events. Mr. Littrell responded they already have that understanding and help each other. Mr. Boyles said he used to agree with Mr. Littrell but we cannot provide help if we don’t know about it. July 16, 2013 -15- Minute Book 69, Page 223 Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners PUBLIC SAFETY - RESOLUTION, EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES USER FEE A recent rate comparison for medical services transports has revealed that Okaloosa County rates have fallen below the average of regional and national Emergency Medical Services (EMS) fees. Mr. Villani stated three options for changing those rates were proposed. He noted Mr. Padgett and Mr. Stanford did place a fee adjustment for EMS in the proposed FY 2014 budget. Mr. Villani recommended Board consideration to adopt a resolution adjusting the EMS user fees using Option #3. Mr. Parisot made motion, seconded by Mr. Harris, to adopt the resolution as outlined in Option #3 for adjustment of EMS user fees. 5 yeas. RESOLUTION NO. 13-108 AIRPORTS - APPROVAL OF AVIATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE REPLACEMENTS Mr. Dino Villani, Interim Airports Director, requested this item be