Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 02-28-06 ‎(workshop)‎ — reading text

120.54( 5) b) ( 2. FS. History- New 4- 1- 97. 28- 109. 006 Evidence, Testimony, and Argument. 1) Any evidence, testimony, and argument which is introduced utilizing CMT shall be afforded equal consideration as if it were introduced by its proponent in person, but shall be subject to the same objections as if it were made in person. 148  i\ t FLJUR ADMINLA W ~ 52 Page 1 2 Fla. Jur 2d Administrative Law ~ 52 2 Fla. Jur 2d Administrative Law ~ 52 Florida Jurisprudence, Second Edition Database updated April 2005 Administrative Law by Jaqualin Friend Peterson, J.D., of the staff of the National Legal Research Group, Inc. IV. Meetings; Disclosure to Public C. Meeting Place Topic Summary Correlation Table References 9 52. Media technology facilities; uniform rules West' s Key Number Digest West' s Key Number Digest, Administrative Law and Procedure €==:> 124, 471 The Florida Administrative Procedure Act ( APA) directs the Administration Commission to adopt uniform rules that provide procedures for conducting public meetings, hearings, and workshops, by. means of communications media technologyJFNl] The notice for public meetings, hearings, and workshops utilizing communications media technology must state how persons interested in attending may do so and must name locations, if any, where communications media technology facilities will be available.[lli21 Other laws relating to public meetings, hearings, and workshops, including penal and remedial provisions, must apply to public meetings, hearings, and workshops conducted by means of communications media technology and will be liberally construed in their applicationJFN31 Practice Guide: The Florida Administrative Code sets forth provisions dealing with the use of communications media technology to conduct proceedings. [FN41 rFNll 9 120. 54( 5)( b) 2, Fla. Stat., providing that " communications media technology" means the electronic transmission of printed matter, audio, full- motion video, freeze- frame video, compressed video, and digital video by any method available. rFN21 9 120. 54( 5)( b) 2, Fla. Stat. rrnn 9 120.54( 5)( b) 2, Fla. Stat. Fla. Admin. Code Ch. 28- 109. @ 2005Tho~ o~ e~ FLJUR ADMINLAW 9 52 END OF DOCUMENT @ 2005 Tho~ o~ est. No Claim to Orig. U. S. Govt. Works.  C/ A.. F'-{~ I tit.......,'." ...'.' .' Is it possible for an elected city oHicial to cal~ in to his or her council Q meeting and participate via conference call? What are the guidelines, rules and regulations pertaining to this? It is the attorney general' s view that an absent member may participate by telephone in a public meet- A ing when the member' s absence " is due to extraordinary circumstan~es such as illness." Illness is used as an example to demonstrate " extraordinary circumstances." Extraordinary circumstances would need to be determined by the council on a case- by-case basis. Death in the family probably is an extraordinary circumstance. Vacation probably is not. City business might be, but maybe not. What is apparent is that there must be a quorum physically present in order for the absent member to participate telephonically in the meeting. The absent member cannot be used to assure a quorum. Attorney General' s Opinion 02- 82 states: This office has been reluctant to extend the participation in public meetings of public officials by electronic means to situations other than those involving a serious medical condition and the presence otherwise of a quorum at the public meeting place.... Concerns about the valid- ity of official actions taken by a public body when less than a quorum is pr-esent argue for a very conservative reading of these provisions. This office has concluded that, in the absence of a statute to the contrary, the requisite number of members must be physically present at a meeting in order to constitute a quorum. This determination relates to whether an absent member telephonically participating in a public meeting violates the public records law. Attorney General' s Opinion 94-54 states: T]elephone conversations between public officials on aspects of the public' s business are part of the process which ultimately leads up to final recorded action in a formal public meeting, and they may not be held covertly. These conversations come within the ambit of the Sunshine. Law and must be subjected to the scrutiny of the public to the greatest extent possible. ( Ref. AGO 71- 32)... Compliance would involve providing notice and access to the public at such meetings through the use of such devices as a speaker telephone that would allow the absent member to participate in discussions, to be heard by the other board mem- bers and the public and to hear discussions taking place during the meeting. The courts have repeatedly held that even minor procedural irregularities will invalidate a council' s action on a particular matter. City attorneys should counsel their members not to use telephones to conduct meetings except in the most extraordinary circumstances. League staff is available as a resource and information service to Florida' s municipal officials. As a regular column in Qualify Cities, we' ll answer a recently asked question that might be of interest to your city as well. If you have a question about a municipal issue, call the League. If you don' t know which stoff member to contact, call the Membership Development Department staff at (850) 222-9684 or e-mail cwestmorelcind@fIcities. com. Quality Cities - Mayl June 2005 27 2- 28- 06 Requested by Councilman Bob Campbell: Call to see if they have ever considered telephonic participation or already have that capability at Council meetings. Okaloosa Countv Commissioners - they have not considered it and they do not have the capability . Cinco Bavou - they have not considered it and they do not have the capability. Destin - they have discussed it but they have not done anything about it. They have the capability for telephone conference calls. Laurel HiII- they talked about it a little bit at one time when one of their Council members had a truckdriving job but he changed jobs and it has not been discussed in years. They do not have the capability. Marv Esther - they have not considered it and they do not have the capability. Niceville - they have not discussed it and they do not have the capability. Shalimar - they considered it at one time but they have never done anything about it. They do not have the capability. ValDaraiso - they have never considered it but they could plug in a telephone if they needed to. Pensacola - they have never considered it and they do not have the capability. wJ5 ~~  CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP February 28, 2006 Workshop Agenda Discussion on Beal Parkway Neighborhood Plan Council Member Pullen) Agenda Item Number: WA- 3  1. \J- I. a5'-' .L ~ Joyce Shanahan From: wayne [ aapullen@cox. net] Sent: Friday, February 17, 2006 12: 44 PM To: Joyce Shanahan Subject: Re: Workshop If it is on the agenda and we don' t get to it we could delay until Mar. This would give councilmembers a heads up that it is coming so they can think about it. No surprises. Dr. Pullen Original Message - From: Joyce Shanahan To: wayne Sent: Friday, February 17, 2006 10: 56 AM Subject: RE: Workshop Good Morning Dr. Pullen: The February Workshop will be primarily dedicated to Council interviewing the three Finance Director Candidates - we will likely have to start this meeting early to get the interviews completed before the Council Meeting. Perhaps we can put off the Beal Parkway Neighborhood discussion until March? Please advise me. Thanks. Joyce Shanahan Cfty Manager City of Fort Walton Beach, FL Phone: 850- 833- 9504 Fax: 850- 833- 9640 Cell: 850- 803- 9621 Email: ishanahan@fwb. ora From: wayne [ mailto: aapullen@cox. net] Sent: Friday, February 17, 2006 9: 32 AM To: Joyce Shanahan Cc: ca toni; Helen Spencer Subject: Workshop As part of the Feb workshop I would like to have a discussion concerning the Beal Parkway Neighborhood Action Plan. Any input the administration can add would be appreciated. If council members could be encouraged to study and bring with them the booklet that we all have would be helpful. Thank You. Dr. Pullen 2/ 23/ 2006  CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP February 28, 2006 Workshop Agenda General Public on items of City business Agenda Item Number: WA- 4  Page 1 of 1 ker From: Joyce Shanahan" < jshanahan@fwb. org> To: Bill Patterson" < papa1172@aol.com>; " Bob Campbell" < bobcampbeIl114@aol.com>; 4eagles@cox. net>; <jmtucker1@cox. net>; " Mike Anderson" < manderson@fwb. org>; mikeycmat@aol. com>; < mike@seminc. net>; < attycrg@aol.com>; < aapullen@cox. net> Cc: jfrazier@fwb. org>; " Charlotte Dunworth" < cdunworth@fwb. org>; " Carole Jones" cjones@fwb. org> Sent: Monday, February 27, 20066:55 PM Subject: Golf Club Advisory Committee Good Evening All: Because some of you attended the meeting, but had to leave early, I thought you would like to know that the Golf Club Advisory Committee recommended two scenarios be presented to City Council. These were scenarios developed by