Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 02-06-06 — reading text

CITY OF FORT WAL TON BEACH City Council Special Meeting Agenda February 6, 2006 5: 30 p.m. Senior Citizen Center (note location change) 31 Memorial Parkway SW Fort Walton Beach, FL 32548 CALL TO ORDER PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE - Mayor Mike Anderson I Agenda 1. Consideration of an alternative Brooks Bridge Corridor. ( Council Member Tucker) ( See Backu p) 2. General Public ( on matters of City Business). ADJOURN will Any person who decides to appeal any decision made with respect to any matter at this meeting need a record of the proceedings, and for such purpose may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based. (FS286.0105). will make The City of Fort Walton Beach adheres to the American with Disabilities Act and reasonable modifications for access to this meeting upon request. Please call City Clerk Helen 850-833- Spencer at 850-833-9509 to make a request. For Hearing Impaired dial the City Hall TOO # 48 9925 or 1- 800-955-8771 ( TOO) or 1- 800-955-8770 ( Voice). Requests must be received at least hours in advance of the meeting in order to allow the City time to provide requested service. Jan 28 OS 05: 04p Jim Tucker 2441991 Owners JIM TUCKER FAX # ( 904) 244- 1991 Sales 244-2722 CARLTON TUCKER Parts 243- BOAT Pages to follow 6G Z!! 7~ r!. . 2? lt ~. . ~~ lu..~ YLL~. d-- ~.\~ / I ft/fJjJ .. a&- r~ c V~ .. c:? j'/< J~) r--:~ 1t:,~ .~ 9tvn~- I- o~~ 07. J- e-- ~ .. ~ o../- erV~ ~~ ~ . jJ ~ 5 o/ ~ -~~~ C4' 9~. 1 LhL; ~ ~.~,-. e/ f~ Ct21? k .~ ~ ~/ ~ 0 I). v) + ud-tdIL ( xJ~ - t~! add--/ H- ~ L/ C!~. . cr,{-.J ~ ~.. cL~ A k/;/- fUH ~ ~ Motion: The City Of Fort Walton Beach will not support, and will oppose, any bridge Alignment to the vigorously East of Brooks Bridge. February 6, 2006 Pat Hollarn - Supervisor of Election call for a No one person or group of people can referendum. It has to be a governing body calling for the referendum. If it is a County referendum, the County Commissioners have to contact the Supervisor of Elections. Ms. Hollarn said the Commissioners probably will not call for a referendum. The cost would be approximately $ 200, 000 for a separate election. It takes 120 days to prepare for an election and there is one coming up in November 2006. Ms. Hollarn said she does not have time in 2006 to do a referendum on the bridge corridor All or one of the cities can call for a referendum but it would only be for that city limits and would cost a great deal. If a referendum is required or wanted, it should be for the entire County as a bridge would affect all the citizens. Maureen E. Taylor February 6, 2006 225 B Alconese Avenue Fort Walton Beach FL 32548 850- 244- 0496 Mrntylr@aol.com Re: Bridge Authority Issues Mayor Mike Anderson City Council Members City of Fort Walton Beach, FL 32548 Gentlemen, I am writing to request that you carefully consider what you have done to the City of Fort Walton Beach by voting to support a bridge in any area other than the proposed route on Hollywood Blvd. You have divided the citizens of this beautiful city into camps in neighborhoods. Not one neighborhood in the city wishes to be divided and devalued by another bridge. I urge you to consider the actions you have taken which favor some citizens and devalue others. Please pass a resolution to support none of the bridge options that the current Bridge Authority has presented. I live on Alconese Avenue, which is the path of one of the proposed bridge sites. This street has some of the highest private tax value property in the city. The Camp WaltonVillage Condominiums are home to 20 families. We moved to this part of FWB because of the prospect of a wonderful rejuvenated downtown area. I have been a resident of FWB or a property owner in this city for over 36 years. Soon we will have over 40 new tax paying neighbors at the Villa Di Mare condominiums. My question is: why would any of you vote to devalue property in the city at all? Whether on Hollywood, First St, Wright Parkway or any street, all the people of FWB deserve representation by INFORMED council members. This town voted to not proceed with a bridge several years ago. The right to vote again was taken away from us when Jerry Melvin succeeded in passing a special interest bill in the state legislature. Now the future of some of the lovely neighborhoods in our home town, and the families who live in them, is in the hands of 5 appointed people, several of whom have not served on the authority for any long period of time, some of whom do not even live in The City Fort Walton Beach, who were selected by Gov. Bush, who is far removed from the desires of our small town on this issue. Please help the people you represent and stand as a full Council and do everything you can to STOP THE BRIDGE. None of the proposals do anything to truly help move the traffic in this town. None of the proposals will make our town more easier to live in or more accessible. The proposals for the bridge, lovely, will take out banks, restaurants, homes, churches, new and proposed buildings, and take away, most of all, the serenity and security of the homes of the citizens of Fort Walton Beach. Please do not pit neighbors and citizens against each other in this issue. Support us all by demanding that the Bridge Authority vote NO" to any new bridge in FWB. Thank you in advance for taking action on this matter at the next full council meeting. Sin~ Y.:.(' 7111 v. Maureen E. 9:' /"aylor Top 10 things you should know about the Emerald Coast Bridge Authority ( ECBA) toll- bridge initiative 10. No traffic engineering study has ever shown need for an additional bridge at any of the three proposed locations. Highway 98 is recognized as a problem and an 8- county solution is being officially sought. Studies are underway, buf the ECBA refuses to wait. ECBA was formed by the Legislature, per request of a local legislator, with no technical review or support. 9. A new bridge will not improve hurricane safety. According to emergency managers, the time it takes to complete hurricane evacuation in Okaloosa County is 19. 5 hours. The statewide emergency management target is 12 hours. None of the proposed ECBA bridge- site options will significantly shorten evacuation time. 8. This is a toll bridge, and it won' t be a quarter. With a bridge costing nom $ 130 to $ 250 million depending on location), tolls not less than $ 2.50 each way are assured. Leave Calhoun Avenue in Destin, drive 5 minutes to Publix in Fort Walton Beach for a gallon of milk, and it'll cost you $ 10 or more. 7. The ECBA also has the power to levy tolls on Brooks Bridge ( see HB- 1897 and check the minutes of the last few ECBA meetings). No new bridge will pay for itselfso long as there' s a nee alternative, thus the ECBA will be forced to turn Brooks Bridge into a toll bridge. 6. The ECBA has no local oversight. The 5 members are appointed by the governor and answer to no local elected official. They' ve been granted the power of eminent domain to condemn properties as needed, and a quorum of 3 is sufficient to decide when and where to build this toll bridge. 5. Citizens have no ("mal vote. That's right- none. The ECBA has absolutely no requirement to conduct a vote or listen and incorporate citizen views or preferences. They claim to have satisfied the requirement for public support by pointing to participation at two invitation- only " design charettes." 4. Traffic in Destin will only worsen as Okaloosa Island residents opt to shop there rather than pay tolls to shop in Fort Walton Beach (FWB). 3. The " No Bridge" option is not being considered. Figg Engineering makes money designing bridges. Figg has no motivation for other less disruptive and less expel)sive non- bridge alternatives ( such as rerouting traffic and eliminating stop lights). Figg representatives were attending ECBA meetings a year before they were hired by ECBA, making a bridge solution almost inevitable. Other alternatives simply did not receive due consideration. 2. Establishing a toll on Highway 98 will penalize mostly those who can atTord