Fort Walton Beach Council minutes — 10-14-08 regular minutes — reading text

Board all the DRC members were present to testify about their memoranda plus there is also a verbatim transcript of that meeting that will accompany the staff report. She said the DRC members are present if there are any questions. She gave her opinion this will satisfy the project to move forward. The Mayor opened the public hearing. As no one wished to speak the public hearing was closed. Mr. Minich moved to adopt Ord. 1762 on first reading. Dr. Pullen seconded motion and it carried unanimously with Holmes, Reeves, Garvie, Pullen, Hartwell, and Minich in favor (Miller absent). PUBLIC HEARING - ORD. 1780: AMENDING SECTION CITY CHARTER 8.. The Mayor read the ordinance by title. AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH, FLORIDA; PROVIDING AUTHORITY AND INTENT; AMENDING SECTION 8 OF THE CITY CHARTER TO REMOVE LIMITATIONS ON THE CITY' S HOME RULE POWERS AND TO RECONCILE INTERNAL INCONSISTENCY WITH POWERS OF THE MAYOR; AND SETTING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. The Mayor opened the public hearing. As no one wished to speak the public hearing was closed. Mr. Garvie moved to adopt Ord. 1780 on second reading. Mr. Minich seconded motion and it carried unanimously with Holmes, Reeves, Garvie, Pullen, Hartwell, and Minich in favor Miller ( absent). PUBLIC HEARING - RES. 08- 38: DESIGNATING A BROWNFIELD AREA The City Attorney read the resolution by title. A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH, FLORIDA, DESIGNATING A BROWNFIELD AREA WITHIN THE CITY FOR PROPERTIES GENERALLY LOCATED WITHIN THE f'" BOUNDARIES OF THE CITY' S COMMERCE AND TECHNOLOGY PARK CONSISTING OF I APPROXIMATELY 347 ACRES FOR THE PURPOSE OF ENVIRONMENTAL REHABILITATION AND ECONOMIC REDEVELOPMENT; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. SITE The Mayor opened the public hearing. Barry Gray submitted a letter of support for the resolution. As no one else wished to speak the public hearing was closed. Mr. Minich moved to approve Res. 08- 38. Mr. Holmes seconded motion and it carried unanimously with Holmes, Reeves, Garvie, Pullen, Hartwell, and Minich in favor (Miller absent).  Regular Council 10- 14- 08 25 ORD. 1783 cont. The Mayor opened the public hearing. As no one wished to speak the public hearing was closed. Mr. Minich moved to adopt Ord. 1783 on first reading. Mr. Reeves seconded motion and it carried unanimously with Holmes, Reeves, Garvie, Pullen, Hartwell, and Minich in favor (Miller absent). PUBLIC HEARING - ORD. 1782: AMENDING DATES AND TIME FOR COUNCIL MEETINGS The Mayor read the ordinance by title. f' i AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH, FLORIDA; PROVIDING AUTHORITY; I AMENDING SECTION 2. 01.03 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES REGARDING MEETING DATES AND TIME FOR CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS; AND SETTING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. The City Attorney stated this provision is in the current code. She mentioned two issues raised during the Charter review were the time of the Council meetings and holiday schedules. She said this ordinance changes the meeting time from 7: 00 p.m. to 6: 00 p. m. and will give Council the flexibility to set meetings on a different date. The Mayor opened the public hearing. As no one wished to speak the public hearing was closed. Mr. Minich moved to adopt Ord. 1782 on first reading. Mr. Reeves seconded motion and it carried unanimously with Holmes, Reeves, Garvie, Pullen, Hartwell, and Minich in favor (Miller absent). FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS The City Manager advised items were removed based on prior action of Council and at this time there are no future agenda items to list. RELEASE OF LIEN FOR 205 FLORIDA PLACE SE Consideration of request for approval of release of lien in the amount of $44,750, including the $ 650 Administrative Fees for the property located at 205 Florida Place SE, Fort Walton Beach, Okaloosa County, Florida, Tax ID#24- 2S- 24- 0000- 0093- 0000. Missy McKim, Development Services Director, explained Vanguard Bank was successful in foreclosing on the property and the .petitioning law firm failed to include the City' s lien in the foreclosure process so the bank needs a release of lien to avoid filing a re- foreclosure action to quiet title. It was questioned why the letter from the bank' s attorney would state their understanding that the City will execute a release. The City Attorney explained whenever a property is foreclosed the lien is extinguished by the foreclosure. She said Council can deny the request but they are not going to have clear title until that lien is gone. The Mayor opened the floor for public input. As there was none public input was closed. Mr. Minich moved to approve the release of lien in the amount of $ 44,750 including the $ 650 r Administrative Fees for the property located at 205 Florida Place SEe Mr. Garvie seconded motion I and it carried unanimously with Holmes, Reeves, Garvie, Pullen, Hartwell, and Minich in favor Miller absent). There was a question on the number of liens the City has filed, and it was noted there is a lot of staff time involved and the City never receives anything. The City Attorney believed there are around 40 liens and said she can look at it with staff to see if the City is utilizing the best method of collecting on a lien. The Development Services Director believed attorney Joe Lorenz is working on ten to twelve for foreclosure.  Regular Council 10- 14- 08 26 RES. 08- 49: CDBG CITIZEN PARTICIPATION PLAN The Mayor read the resolution by title. A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ADOPTING THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT CITIZEN PARTICIPATION PLAN; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. The Development Services Director explained the Citizen Participation Plan is a requirement of BUD with the CDBG program, and then went over the provisions in the plan. Mr. Reeves moved to approve Res. 08- 49. Mr. Hartwell seconded motion and it carried unanimously i with Holmes, Reeves, Garvie, Pullen, Hartwell, and Minich in favor (Miller absent). wi RECESS The meeting recessed at 9: 05 p. m. RECONVENE The meeting reconvened at 9: 15 p. m. SUNsmNE LAW Discussion regarding how the Sunshine Law applies to the City staff and the relationship and responsibility of the City Council. Councilman Pullen voiced his concerns over discovering a situation that exists because of Sunshine Law violations and 136 development permits could be invalid, which include some currently underway or about to start; and concerns about the City' s liability and Council's personal liability. He referenced the material that established that the Sunshine Law has been violated by closed Development Review Committee ( DRC) meetings and subsequent actions taken on developments were invalid, pointed out the City Attorney' s opinion of October 12, 2008 clarified and supported the material, and noted the City Attorney' s opinion of October 1, 2008 stated by language of the Land Development Code that the DRC meetings should be open and accessible to the public. He mentioned other meetings in violation of the Sunshine Law were the Citizens Advisory Committee ( CAC) that has met for years but research found no minutes. He reviewed the three requirements for a meeting in the Sunshine: that meetings must be open to the public, reasonable notice on the time and place must be given, and minutes must be taken. He questioned whether the October 1, 2008 CRA meeting that was moved was held in the Sunshine, whether the Sunshine Law was violated, whether any action they took is invalid, and whether the volunteers should be put at risk of breaking the Sunshine Law. He mentioned the penalties for violating the Sunshine Law and questions Council should ask themselves. He then posed the following questions to Council: are they aware of the possible consequences to the City of invalid decisions because of the DRC not meeting in the Sunshine, who is responsible, what will be the cost for corrections, should the developments underway be allowed to proceed or should corrections be made first, has the law established that the permits are invalid, can the City Manager or staff claim they did not know what was in the LDC because they just completed the recent update of the Land Development Code, and has the City Manager placed the City in jeopardy of litigation and resulting liabilities. He mentioned he may ask to be on the agenda at a later Council meeting to supply a motion for potential remediation of the exposure and said in the meantime Council will have time to digest all the ~ material, hopefully there will be a full Council present, the citizens will have a chance to become familiar with the material and contact their elected representatives, and the City Attorney will have time to complete t I her efforts to determine the extent of the City' s exposure. .."" The Mayor opened the floor for public comment. Ray Seip, 121 Nebraska Avenue, said " in case you are all interested I am kind of the guy that found this by accident when we were doing the changing from one Land Development Code to another one, there were particular paragraphs that were left out. The question came up was what is DRC, who are they. Most of this got changed but I do want to read you some that didn' t. The old Land Development Code 12. 34.07( 7) said all meetings shall be open and accessible to the public'; simple statement."  Regular Council 10- 14- 08 27 SUNsmNE LAW cont. Ray Seip continued " In reading the new Land Development Code 13.40. 8E reveals that statement was removed. During the development of the, Land Development Code Chapter 13 was not finished, you all heard me talk about that. But it was passed by the Municipal Board anyway. Changes were made to Chapter 13 without the Planning Board' s knowledge. Someone made these changes to make it look like a staff meeting. It wasn' t done accidentally. But the Development Review Committee, DRC, does make the requirements of operating under the Sunshine Law mandatory, not an