Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 05-10-05 — reading text

t( l\  RESOLUTION 05-08 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DESTIN, FLORIDA, TO REQUEST THAT THE PRESIDENT' S BUDGET FOR THE UNITED STATES ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS BE AMENDED TO ALLOW FOR MAINTAINANCE DREDGING OF DESTIN EAST PASS EAST PASS) ON A BIENNIAL BASIS AS A MEASURE TO IMPROVE PUBLIC WELFARE AND SAFETY BY ALLOWING PROPER AND SAFE ACCESS BETWEEN CHOCT AWHATCHEE BAY AND THE GULF OF MEXICO; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, the East Pass provides the only direct link between the Gull of Mexico and Choctawhatchee Bay; and WHEREAS, the East Pass is the lone waterway linking Eglin Air Force Base and the United States Coast Guard Station-Destin to the Gulf of Mexico; and WHEREAS, the East Pass provides the only safe harbor within approximately 100 statute miles of the Gulf of Mexico shoreline between Pensacola, Florida and Panama City, Florida; and WHEREAS, East Pass is used daily by the Destin charter fishing fleet, over 100 vessels; and WHEREAS, the Destin charter fishing fleet contributes well in excess of 55 million annually to the local economy, serving over a quarter million customers per year and employing in excess of 400 persons; and WHEREAS, the East Pass is used throughout the year by thousands for recreational and sport fishing, boaters, and tourists, which is the area' s number one economic market; and WHEREAS, the East Pass Project was last included in the 1996 fiscal President' s as funding to dredge the East Pass in the fall of 1995 year budget 1rmnediately following Hurricane Opal; and WHEREAS, since that time the East Pass has been dredged only four times wIth funds received from U.s. Congress; and supplemental WHEREAS, East Pass was dredged this year with supplemental funds received from the U.S. Congress in response to Hurricane Ivan; and  WHEREAS, the most recent two federal administrations have not supportedshallow draft navigation projects such as East Pass; and WHEREAS, it is imperative to revise the federal criteria for dredging in fiscal appropriations 2006 and beyond to include shallow draft year waterways such as the East Pass. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Destin respectfully requests the U.5. Congress to fund the United States Army Corps of Engineers East Pass Dredging Project on a biennial basis beginning in 2006. SO DONE THIS 29TH DAY OF APRIL 2005. 4/ $' By: L Craig H. Barker, Mayor A "'" ATTEST: / S;, A LY'::J{ ;( lj/ C6a~ A- WilliaJs, Dana L.S. City Clerk t..-,.. toO'..".'" . f: .. Page 2 of 2  1 RESOLUTION 2005- 08 2 3 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF FORT WALTON 4 BEACH, FLORIDA, TO REQUEST THAT THE 5 PRESIDENT' S BUDGET FOR THE UNITED STATES 6 ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS BE AMENDED TO 7 ALLOW FOR MAINTENANCE DREDGING OF 8 DESTIN EAST PASS ( EAST PASS) ON A BIENNIAL 9 BASIS AS A MEASURE TO IMPROVE PUBLIC 10 WELFARE AND SAFETY BY ALLOWING PROPER 11 AND SAFE ACCESS BETWEEN CHOCTAWHATCHEE 12 BAY AND THE GULF OF MEXICO; AND PROVIDING 13 AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 14 15 WHEREAS, the East Pass provides the only direct link between the Gulf of Mexico and 16 Choctawhatchee Bay; and 17 18 WHEREAS, the East Pass is the lone waterway linking Eglin Air Force Base and the 19 United States Coast Guard Station- Destin to the Gulf of Mexico; and 20 21 WHEREAS, the East Pass provides the only safe harbor within approximately 100 22 statute miles of the Gulf of Mexico shoreline between Pensacola, Florida and Panama 23 City, Florida; and 24 25 WHEREAS, East Pass is used daily by the Destin charter fishing fleet, over 100 vessels; 26 and 27 28 WHEREAS, the Destin charter fishing fleet contributes well in excess of $55 million 29 annually to the local economy, serving over a quarter million customers per year and 30 employing in excess of 400 persons; and 31 32 WHEREAS, the East Pass is used throughout the year by thousands for recreational and 33 sport fishing, boaters, and tourists, which is the area' s number one economic market; and 34 35 WHEREAS, the East Pass Project was last included in the 1996 fiscal year President' s 36 budget as funding to dredge the East Pass in the fall of 1995 immediately following 37 Hurricane Opal; and 38 39 WHEREAS, since that time the East Pass has been dredged only four times with 40 supplemental funds received from U.S. Congress; and 41 42 WHEREAS, East Pass was dredged this year with supplemental funds received from the 43 U.S. Congress in response to Hurricane Ivan; and 44 45 WHEREAS, the most recent two federal administration has not supported shallow draft 46 navigation projects such as East Pass; and U:\ CJones\DPT0 2b\ My Docs CJ\05- 02- 05 Res re East Pass Dredging,doc 47 48 WHEREAS, it is imperative to revise the federal criteria for dredging appropriations in 49 fiscal year 2006 and beyond to include shallow draft waterways such as the East Pass. 50 51 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, THAT 52 53 Section I. The City Council of the City of Fort Walton Beach respectfully requests the 54 U.S. Congress to fund the United States Army Corps of Engineers East Pass Dredging 55 Project on a biennial basis beginning in 2006. 56 57 Section II. This Resolution is effective immediately upon approval by the City Council 58 and signature of the Mayor. 59 60 Adopted: 61 62 Mayor: 63 Michael G. Anderson 64 65 Attest: 66 67 68 Helen Spencer, City Clerk 69 70 71 Approved as to form and legal sufficiency: 72 73 74 75 Toni L.Craig, City Attorney 76 77 78 U:\ CJones\ DPT002bM\ y Docs CJ\ 05-02- 05 Res re East Pass Dredging, doc  CITY COUNCIL MEETING May 10, 2005 Regular Agenda Consideration of Resolution 2005-09 Supporting Amendments to the Florida Constitution Requiring Periodic Review of Sales Tax Exemptions Council Action 1 st 2nd Vote: Agenda Item Number: RG - 12  Cop lj jc) '. ~ 11c-.e Qd . App0+f3C!. ITIES INC. Memorandum TO: Key Officials FROM: John Charles Thomas, Director Legislative and Public Affairs RE: Proposed Constitutional Amendments to Review FL Sales Tax Exemptions DATE: April 12, 2005 The Florida League of Cities Board of Directors recently voted to support constitutional amendments that would require a mandatory review of Florida' s sales tax exemptions. This effort is being spearheaded by a group called Floridians Against Inequities in Rates F AIR). The League is asking cities to support this petition initiative. Attached are three constitutional amendment petition forms that would amend different sections of the Florida Constitution. They include: Amends Article III, Section 21 - requiring each exemption passed by law to contain the single subject matter of a: single ' exemption Amends Article III, Section 20 - requiring periodic legislative review of sales tax exemptions Amends Article III, Section 22 - requiring the review of extending the sales tax to non- taxed services Each petition needs over 600, 000 verified signatures in order for it to be placed on the 2006 Ballot. Also attached is a draft resolution for your city' s consideration, should you wish to adopt a resolution. For additional information, please feel free to contact at the visit me League or www.fairamendment. com. Attachments Cc: FLC Board of Directors Local/Regional League Contacts 301 South Bronough Street. Post Office Box 1757 . Tallahassee, FL 32302- 1757 Telephone ( 850) 222- 9684 + Suncom 278- 5331 + Fax ( 850) 222- 3806 + website: www. flcities. com(\ 1J, What are theFAIRame' ments? .. .. .... ) A periodic review of all exemptio~s< Provides that the Legislature must review every sales 1ax exemption or exdusion every l8n years, Requires a public purpose for each exemption - Exemptions or exclusions that are reenacted must have a